Back into training

Obviously it has been quite a while, since the last time I wrote. After Bear, I went into a bit of a forced hiatus from training as a result of achilles tendonitis. Ironically the injury seems to have had more to do with yoga than running -- during my post-Bear training cycle I was experimenting with adding variety to my overall exercise routine and either caused or aggravated the injury. My initial attempts at simply suffering through the pain seemed to only make running and even non-running time miserable. Eventually I surrendered to the inevitable and decided to take about 10-11 days completely off from running. After the complete break, I started my training at basically zero again . . . last week was my first week back at the 50 mile mark and included my first run since September at the 20+ distance. I think it's relatively fair to say that I am back in at least winter training mode although a bit behind where I have been the past couple of years in January (and definitely a couple pounds heavier than my normal December-January weight) . . . despite the general setbacks of October and November, December turned out to be a fairly good month of running in the sense that the trails are frighteningly clear of snow and I have been running on dirt more consistently than sometimes happens in the winter.

General Reflection on 2011: I would say that overall the year was one of my strongest years, if not my strongest year of racing. The fact that I DNFed at Bear puts a damper on all this nonsense, but I raced more during 2011 than any other year and in further reflection I kind of believe that part of what happened at Bear might have been an example of mental/physical burnout leading me to take impatient/unnecessary risks. Thankfully, the rest of the race season went fairly well with the highlight being the fact that I finished 3 - 50 mile races in the top 10 and completed Western States well under the 24hr mark. In addition to these races, I thought my improved time and finish at Speedgoat was a good sign that my mountain climbing is getting a bit stronger or at least more stubborn. Unfortunately the exhaustion of August and September (and the subsequent injury in October) were a bit of a downer, but thankfully the year ended on a high-note and I have been sincerely enjoying running again during the past few weeks.

Race Goals 2012: Still taking shape is the best way to explain my race schedule for this upcoming season. I am currently signed up for the Black Hills 100 and Squaw Peak 50 in June. I am considering a couple of other races (ideally one more 50 and one more 100), but am planning to race considerably less this year than last. I am also uncertain of what my exact goals will be in June since the two races are so close together -- kind of hoping to run SP50 strictly as a training run, then race BH100 relatively hard with the number one goal being to finish and only start worrying about pace/time/place in the latter stages of the race. Beyond racing, I am hoping to simply make sure that I keep my training at an enjoyable although relatively high level. Most importantly I want to make sure that after June, I give myself a solid amount of time for mental/physical recovery before racing again. In fact, I may leave my race schedule as empty as it currently stands until after June and then decide on a couple of additional races dependent on how I feel . . .