Month: November 2014

Races

Illuminations Half Marathon

Post author By azventurer
Post date November 29, 2014

Two weeks after running Ragnar Trail, I ran a half marathon. This one wasn’t really by design; I kind of fell into it, and I was really glad I did.

One of my friends had pointed it out to me several months earlier. He signed up for it, and I agreed that it looked like a nice race, but (I think) I was already signed up for the Ragnar at that point, and I didn’t feel like I could throw out the money for an additional race registration so soon (Ragnar ain’t cheap), plus there was the proximity, and I didn’t know how I was going to feel running another race so soon.

Training

Giving Thanks

Post author By azventurer
Post date November 27, 2014

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, here are a couple of things I am thankful for.

First and foremost, in the spirit of this blog, I want to say how profoundly grateful I am to be able to run the way I do. I am free from physical limitations that keep me from running, I have a life that allows me the time to run, and I have a wife that understands this passion because she has it, too.

Second, as I was considering this idea of thankfulness as it relates to running, I realized one of things I am most thankful for are bad runs. Don’t get me wrong–it is awesome to run well, to nail a goal, to get to the finish line–but good runs will get you in trouble. When you finish and think, “yep, I nailed that,” it’s easy to ride that feeling and slide a bit. Hard to feel like you need to keep pushing. But a bad run, now–a bad run makes you think. Makes you analyze what went wrong. Makes you work harder the next time. Good runs make you feel good. Bad runs make you better.

Bring on the bad runs. I don’t like them, but I need them, and boy I am thankful for them.

Races Trail Running

Running and Sleeping in the Desert With Strangers: Ragnar Trail, AZ

Post author By azventurer
Post date November 15, 2014

Say What?

Last weekend (November 7-8), I did something called a Ragnar Trail Relay. I’ve posted a couple of things about it on Facebook, but largely without explanation, so I think most of the people seeing it probably didn’t/don’t know exactly what I was talking about.