2023… A Summary

The year of 2023 was a year of searching. Searching for meaning, searching in myself, and searching for my goals. This was the start of my second year running races and just running in general. I started off the year with a goal in mind, running a sub 3 hour marathon. This would mean taking 7 minutes off my PR. The race was the last day of April, with an ideal buildup being 16 weeks starting the second week of the year. Training began well, I ramped up but it was a less of a ramp and more of a jump. I was eager knowing I had a high potential. I was increasing mileage and increasing intensity. The result, increasing fitness. Ehhhh kind of, but more so increased injury risk. That was the story of my training, balancing recovery, training, and trying to hold off injury (shin splints) as long as possible. Not really the ingredients for a great success story.

The Eau Claire Marathon

As race day came, the confidence I had in my mind was slim. I had everything dialed in that was not physical, which included pacing and nutrition. The day was about a perfect 44 degrees, gloomy, but windy. I went out with the 3-hour pace group but by the second mile I let them go ahead as they were going up to 15 seconds faster per mile than needed. I let off knowing that the course had a faster second half and the now head on wind would turn into a tailwind. I ran the first half in 1:31.16. This meant the second half would have to be fast, faster then 1:28.44. That is exactly what happened, I ran the second half in 1:22.22. I crossed the finish line in a time of 2:58:44 and was glad, glad that I finished sub-3. But not because of the fact that it was under 3 hours but because I felt I didn't have to run a marathon ever again. The stress of going for a specific time weighed a lot on me and I was glad to start my adventure into trail running.

Bear Chase 50 Mile

The next race on the schedule was the Bear Chase 50 mile. This was my first ultra and I was so stoked for it. I had no clue what to expect but I figured this would be a good first one. It was small and consisted of 4 12.5-mile loops. The first lap I decided to take it out fairly slow at an easy pace. This was right behind runner Stephanie Flippin. We ran the whole first lap together but as we started the second lap I decided to go ahead and pick up the pace. This was the last time I ran with someone but it being a looped course I saw a bunch of other runners. Things went well all the way up to the end of the third lap and I hit a wall, I was still in a good head space as I went out on loop 4. I grinded it out with the mindset of there is always another gear, something people use to describe Zach Miller, the runner I look up to. I finished the race in 7 hours and 21 minutes and first overall. My goal was a little bit faster and I think if I paced it a little bit better I could have run sub 7. Overall this was a performance I was very happy with.