When I first started running, finishing a 50k was a pretty big deal. Now it's more of a training run. I still don't run particularly fast, but I'm no longer laid up for an extended period of time after a longer run or race. I'm not tooting my own horn here, just about everybody I run with is in a similar situation...and they are all faster than me. As such I've quietly ran a few 50k's without much fanfare. They were still awesome, I just didn't necessarily feel like analyzing the finer details of the races. Don't worry, I'll be running three 50 milers in a 5 week period so I'm sure there will be one or two blog posts devoted to that endeavor. I'm also thinking about switching to brewing smaller batches which will not necessarily decrease the amount of time spent brewing but will increase the amount I can enjoy said beer. Right now a 5 gallon batch results in approximately 50 bottles of beer. I'm a light weight when it comes to alcohol consumption so 50 bottles of beer lasts awhile. If I brewed once a month for an entire year that would give me 600 bottles of beer. Right now I'm the only one in the household consuming it...though thankfully that will change come July. (Yay baby numero uno!) Perhaps I should stock up on said supplies now...my sanity may depend on beer later.
In any event, more frequent brewing may result in more frequent blogging, which may in turn result in...well I'm not sure. I thought however that I would summarize a few of the things I have done running wise over the past few months.
My buddies got me to sign up for Orcas Island, which I had to bail on 1/3 of the way through last year due to a stomach flu. The February 2nd race date meant that I had zero off-season this year. I basically went straight from running Seattle to training for Orcas. I PR'ed at Orcas with a 6:06 despite having some race day issues due to poor pre-race dinner decision making on my part. Feel free to speculate! Race Day was awesome...sun, views, potato chips, soda and more. We spent some extra time on Orcas to celebrate my wife's birthday and I got to enjoy the San Juan's only brewery. If you get a chance to head out there I highly suggest stopping by Island Hoppin Brewery. I tried a mean IPA/Barley Wine blend while there that was so good I ended up getting a growler of it. The growler did not last long...
After Orcas I trained, then went on vacation on Kauai. Brandi graciously allowed me to run the Kalaulau trail with a couple of my running buddies who happened to be out there at the same time. The trail is awesome. Go run it.
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| Josh and Dan cruising down to the halfway point |
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| Josh avoiding flying off the trail |
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| Uphill out of the beach |
Training continued after Hawaii. I ran and barely PR'ed at Chuckanut. I did not have a good race...but last year I felt like I had a great race so I guess this means I'm getting faster. Next up is Gorge Waterfalls 50k. I'll be looking to PR there too...even though I should probably just treat it as a training run. I'm an idiot though so I will try to run it fast. (For me...which is slow for a lot of people). Bring on the spring! I leave you with pictures of my awesome pets.
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| Tricksy Kitten |
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| Sleepy Pippa |
