Random and occasional thoughts on

Seems odd now that I've done 2 Ironman races, about a dozen marathons as well as many other shorter running races, but "I'm not a runner" was my belief for most of my life.  Why did I think that? Let me tell you a story. I was about 16 years old and was a competitive swimmer.  Not just a little competitive, but I swam with people that qualified for the Olympics and on a good day I could beat them.  One day after swim practice, the coach called us over and announced that the pool would be closed for maintenance for 2 weeks so there would be no practice.  Even though I loved swimming and the training we went through, I cheered with the rest of my teammates until... Coach called about 10 of us out and said that we should meet him by the new coliseum that was being built nearby.  I was confused. I hadn't heard anything about a pool there, but coach said to just wear shorts and comfortable shoes. I showed up and waited for instructions.  Coach said "run...

Year number 5 in a row for me.  I wasn't expecting to race this too hard since Ironman was just 2 weeks ago, but I figured it waI s worth it just to keep my streak alive at this event and with a marathon coming up in Jan, I should really be bouncing back fairly quickly. The expo was a fair size, given that it is not a marathon or Ironman.  I went on my lunch break, shortly after they opened.  I picked up my bib and then my 5-year schwag.  The 5-year stuff included a knit hat, a 5-year pin and an extra medal.  There was also an extra race bib highlighting my 5 year "Legacy status".  I didn't wear that one, but I did see a few people that had pinned that one to their back.  Maybe I'll do that next time. I was disappointed when I walked over to the table to get my jacket and they said they were out of my size.  Turns out the truck that had my size jackets was late in making the delivery.  I had to go to the information table where they too...

This is the second year for this event which consisted last year of a hiking challenge.  The hiking challenge included 4 hills in the area for a total of about 11 miles of hiking.  This year, they added a new option.  Instead of driving to each trailhead, you could sign up for the Elite challenge and follow a route of roads and trails to get to and from the Four Peaks.  This version consisted of about 20 miles of trails and hills.  Yes, if you know me at all, you know I elected the crazy long version. I got there about 6:00 for registration which was handled smoothly and efficiently.  They had pancakes and bacon and oatmeal.  I had some oatmeal and put my race number on and then dropped my stuff in my car.  The nice thing about small races is parking is not a huge nightmare. At 6:20 they had some announcements for those of us doing the long race including some notes on the course.  Then we lined up at the start line for the countdown to 6...