Things Learned and Things Unlearned...

Today:
Run 50 miles

Yesterday:
Classic ski 12 miles
Bike Commute 3 miles

A brief look back at '07:

Mileage logged:

• XC Skiing - 397 miles
• Running - 2,434
• Running by month:
• January - 259
• February - 175
• March - 66
• April - 137
• May - 237
• June - 197
• July - 196
• August - 129
• September - 154
• October - 184
• November - 308
• December - 392
• Biking -3,145
• Biking by month:
• January - 63
• February - 75
• March - 165
• April - 534
• May - 404
• June - 539
• July - 141
• August - 190
• September - 194
• October - 393
• November - 290
• December - 157
  
  A few fun things I learned:
  
• How to skate ski
• That I'm not nearly as naturally strong of an endurance biker as I am an endurance runner
• With hard work though I can be a strong endurance biker (hopefully)
• How to mostly ignore angry political rhetoric (I've always been one who gets very bent out of shape when I hear someone politically speaking their mind on something I don't agree with, but this year I found myself much more able to simply tune out and ignore the madness - I guess having a president who more or less forces me to cringe every time he speaks kind of forced me to ignore political rhetoric.
• How to save more of my competitive streak for when I actually want it. I actually ran a few low key, "just for fun" local races this year in which I didn't push myself to the limit as soon as the race was underway. I think this helped me be more determined in the races that I focused on.
• How to chop and prep food all quick, neat, and fancy the way you see them do it on TV. This is an easy one. You get yourself a good knife and a job in a kitchen and pretty quickly you look like a pro. Not sure what this is worth but I guess it's kind of cool.
• There are a lot of great people out there who are just as much or more into endurance training / racing as I am. I knew these people were out there but it was nice to meet several of them - notably Pete, Dave, Dave, Chris, Karl, and Lynda. Being able to match a personality to these name makes me feel a little less alone in what I'm trying to do.

Most memorable racing moments:

• Running into Pete B. with about a mile to go in The Crow Pass Crossing. He seemed to "know" that I was going to win that race but I was so certain until that point. It sunk in really quick though and I got to enjoy a victory lap type feeling for that last mile.
• Last lap of 24 Hours of Light. I felt pretty strong through most of that ride but as I began my last lap I just felt like I just wanted it to be done. I was convinced it was going to be the worst lap of that ride but no more than 2 miles into the lap I began riding with a team rider for awhile. Turned out she was riding almost the exact pace as me and we stayed together the entire rest of the lap. We pushed each other to a faster lap than either one of us would have ridden alone and what looked for certain to be a struggle to the finish turned into my favorite lap of the entire race.
• Finish of Resurrection Pass 50 miler, and the next 48 hours to follow. The finish happened so quickly. I thought I still had at least a few miles to go and suddenly there was the finish. I felt great and pushed a short sprint to the end. I didn't feel as though I had run more than 20 miles and I had run about an hour faster than I really felt possible. The process of coming to terms with all of this took the better part of the next 2 days, but that was a confusion I'd be happy to experience again someday.
• Lining up for the start of the Susitna 100. Even though I won this race, and broke a course record what I remember the most fondly was the feeling of lining up with the other riders to start the race. I was about to run twice as far as I ever had in my life and I was surrounded by so many experienced and accomplished racers (most notably Pete Basinger and John Stamstad). I felt at once so intimidated and overwhelmed, but also strangely confident and certain that things would go well.

Some favorite new gear discovered:

• Montrail Odyssey - Used 4 pair of these this year and now I'm trying to find a good deal on several more
• Nuun - If you haven't tried this yet you're missing out. I'm hooked to the point where I pretty much take some on every run.
• Surly Karate Monkey - Only got a few hundred miles on "my monkey" before winter hit but that was enough to know that I'm definitely going to like this bike
• Nathan running vest - can carry 50 ounces of water, a small camera, and 800-1000 calories of nutrition and not hardly know any of it's there.
• Western Mountaineering Sleeping bags - I'm a fairly cold sleeper. I was very concerned that the highlite 35 degree bag wasn't going to be warm enough for me unless it were 40 or warmer. I had heard good things and I went for it though and it kept we plenty warm at least 5 times below freezing. Pretty impressive considering that it weighs 16 ounces.
• Hammer Perpetuem - I think of this stuff as liquid gold anytime I'm training or racing for more than 5 hours. I'm sure it's psychological but I usually feel like I get a burst of energy just as soon as I swallow it.

A brief look ahead at '08:

Things I hope to learn:

• How to swim
• If I really can run 350 miles in about a week
• If I really can ride 2,500 miles in about 3 weeks
• How I stack up against top level ultra runners
• How to get my debt paid off without working (this has been on my list of things to learn for about 10 years now)

Anyway, enough about all that. I had a great New Year's Day 50 mile run. Got to run it all on firm packed snow and I felt really good. Here's a few pictures: