2015 turned out to be a great running year. Despite running the fewest miles in years (the tally came to an even 1,200 miles), over 20% of my mileage was concentrated into 3 days and included a record long run (116 miles @
Cross Florida R40R), a 50k PR at the
Croom Trail Fools Run and a sub 24-hour
Keys 100 (a near PR for 100 miles). 2013 & 2014, in retrospect, felt like I was just going through the motions and were down years for me in terms of results. I came into 2015 with a conscious focus on running fewer, more enjoyable miles. I had the confidence that I can complete these longer runs and the conviction that they are far more mental than physical and was determined to stay healthy and show it with my results. Both spending cherished miles/time with my weekly run group (
North Pinellas TRIBE) and volunteering a couple races end to end (in the woods of
Ft. Clinch, the beaches of
Daytona and among the
Ancient Oaks of the Enchanted Forest), I fed mentally on experiencing (and maybe helping) others work toward their goals and epic achievements (far too many, big and small, to mention). I'm particularly fond of the 'love of sport' sentiment and that not
everything has to be a commercial venture...Some of the time I enjoyed
the most was spent at the
FURocious Summer Slam, a trilogy of candy-ass/fat-ass (read FREE) races that provides some of the best camaraderie, competition and comestibles around (including a hot sauce,
gastromarathon that is not likely to be repeated). Oh yeah...I can't forget to mention winning the inaugural beer mile following the Daytona 100...shameless brag though the margin of victory smaller than a whore's hymen.
Closing out 2015, I'm satisfied with my performances and, even more so, that I have a clear vision of improvement. In an effort to eventually get faster at the longer distances, my 2016 strategy will focus on more slow mileage, again concentrated into multi-day events. I'm thinking
Wickham Park (4 days of 50 miles...for fun, read the
entry form) and
Vol State (314 miles across Tennessee)...and, because I've lacked the discipline to accomplish the new year resolution I've had now for a couple years (active recovery), I've committed to the
Skydive 150 a mere two weeks after the
Long Haul 100.
Game ON, 2016!
