Back at it and 2019 Quick Review

Fell off of here last year and think it is time to get back to writing on here once in a while again.  I am getting that urge to write a little now and again along with getting back to reading everyday which means that I am starting to get back to being me again and getting re-centered.  A lot has happened since my last post which was about 15 months ago.  Shit, I even got married in that time frame.  LOL!  Anyways thought I would do a quick recap of 2019 and catch up of 2020 so this could be a long one!

2019 Recap
 What a fucking year.... so much has happened that I don't even know where to start.  Guess a training recap of the year is one place I can start.

Training: Not my biggest year by far in the running mileage or time, especially the back half of the year with a shoulder surgery.  I have not been below 600 total annual hours in about 4 years so way lower than normal for me. A lot of that is due to really cutting out a lot of the gym and Crossfit work compared to the past few years, especially compared to 2018.  This is an agreement that I made with my coach so to help with my speed with running.  Seems to work but at the same time I do miss the gym and my friends from there.  The bike was a non-factor again this year which is expected.   Here is how 2019 breaks down. 

 How does that compare to the past years?  Well this is an interesting view.  Now you can see what I mean by total hours  being way down in 2019.  Four big years in a row, then a drop off.   This is comparing the last 12 years in total hours plus the first 6 months of 2020 which you can tell I am heading back towards normal total hours at the current rate.  Should be back around 800 total hours in 2020.

Races:
Solid year in the racing department, no more statements of "Shad's Years of Mediocrity"  from the Grumpy Old Men (GOMS).  I actually had a focus to my year which was to be as competive as possible at the UTE 100 with the goal of beating Karl Meltzer.  Did not quite beat him at UTE for he got me by 20mins but I sure as hell gave it my best shot.  Anyways here is the list of all the organized races and/or events from the year.  Lots of great times and memories this year, Hell it was the year that I meet my wife!!!! More on that later.  I look back at this list and it just brings a smile from ear to ear.  What a great year of adventure and I know I say this every year but I am honored once again to have so many great friends and people in my life.

2019 Races/Events

• Nighthawk Skimo 1/30 (Great time!)
• Salida Half Marathon 3/9 (7th- 1:40:22)
• Nicaragua Trip 3/13-3/23
• Georgetown Burro Race 5/25 (4th)
• Idaho Springs Burro Race 5/26 (4th)
• Dirty Thirty 50K 6/1 (23rd, 2nd old man 6:17)
• Snowmass Ragnar 6/7 (Good Times!)
• Leadville Half Marathon 6/15 (5th overall, 1st old man 1:50:18)
• Ute100 8/9 (4th overall, 24:41:00)
• Pacing and crewing Leadville 100 (good times!)
• Devil on the Divide 22K (4th overall, 1st old man 2:14:48)
• Fredrick Burro 9/21 (4th)
• Cuyamaca 100K 10/5 (Did Not Start)
• Aid Station Captain for Moab 240 (Good Times!)

Books:  
Got in solid 28 books this year.  Good to get back to it and feel like myself again.  I have discovered the past couple years that I need to read pretty regularly in order to feel grounded and myself.  I found that I need to read over 20 books a year in order to be somewhat happy with myself.  What I mean by that is I need to feel that I am improving myself regularly and reading gives me that.  If one is not moving forward in their life than they are moving backwards.  The world changes to much to stay in the same place, if that makes any sense.

2019 Books Read 
1. Man's Search for Meaning*
2. Gone: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse Book 13*
3. As Many Reps as Possible
4. Blind Descent: Surviving Alone & Blind on Everest*
5. The Great Outdoors: Users Guide
6. Dichotomy of Leadership*
7. The Happy Runner*
8. The Promise*
9. The Trident*
10. Broken Open*
11. Saltwater Buddha*
12. The Impossible Climb*
13. All Our Waves Are Water*
14. The Fear Project*
15. The Plan- Rikers Apocalypse Book 2*
16. Discipline Equals Freedom (re-read)*
17. Storm on Our Shores*
18. The Push: A Climbers Search for the Path*
19. Dottir 
20. Bruce Lee: A Life*
21. Unplugged
22. If the Budda Dated*
23. Arisen: Last Stand*
24. Running with Sherman*
25. Denali Nights*
26. Tools of Titans*
27. The 5 Love Languanges*
28. The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei*


Review of Goals for 2019 and Goals for 2020:
 2019
1. Re-qualify for Western States lottery - FAILED
2. Backpacking on the Colorado Trail- at least 3 nights -FAILED
3. Attend at least one concert - COMPLETE
4. Sky Dive- FAILED
5. Keep the blog more updated- FAILED
6. Read at least 20 books - COMPLETE
7. Leave the lower 48 states- COMPLETE
8. Bench 225lbs assuming I am able to solve the bum shoulder issue -FAILED, had shoulder surgery
9. Get my Ham Radio license -FAILED

Not a great year on hitting my goals that I laid out but that is ok.  I turned my focus onto racing pretty hard this year and it panned out.  I also had shoulder surgery in Oct which played a part in my lower than normal training hours and with these goals.  Basically my goals and focused changed when I meet my to be wife Sonja.  ;o)

2020
Decided since I am writing this 6 plus months into the year that I am going to leave the goals for 2020 blank knowing what I know about this year.  Between the pandemic, getting married, and the wife being a travel nurse there will be no defined goals this year.  This year is going to be about being the best version of me that I can be for me and especially for her.



2020 Jan to June catch-up!

 So much has happened or not happened the last 6 months.  The first 3 months it was game on with getting married in Feb by Pastor Bob in Leadville to a long vacation in the Everglades of Florida with Sonja in March to the crazy pandemic that we are still currently in.  Basically since March I have been staying home only going out to get food and run while the wife has been working the pandemic in New York (she is a nurse).  Been a pretty boring but a resetting time for me.  Some of the photos below will lay that out.  Anyways that is all I really feel like writing right now.  Going forward I want to keep this blog much more active but not sure how I want to do that.  A weekly update like GZ does?  Random regular updates like JT?  Only update on events like I used too?  Not sure the answer.  I feel like if I spend more time on here writing and sharing photos that will keep me off of social media more which I easily find myself spending to much time, especially since I have been working from home the past 4 months, it has just gotten worse in that time.  Open to any suggestions if you all have any. 

Take care, be safe and I am out.....


2019 Random Photos to Share, not in any order

  

2020 Random Photos to Share between Jan to June

Is it Addiction?

So I get this random email from a previous co-worker a few weeks ago and it has been eating at me since:

Hi Shad,

i hope you are doing well and that life in 1480 is good!

Also, I wanted you to know that a couple of year's ago I talked to this guy and it has been a game changer for me..  I would encourage you to do the same.

http://www.danentmacherpsychotherapy.com/exercise-addiction/

Of course my response was: 

Thank you for thinking of me but all is well here, in the mist of a break before getting back to it soon.  Hope all is well and take care!

His response back:

Hi Shad,

things are great. .. i can tell from your response you aren't interested in dealing with the addiction (which is the standard response i get when I discuss it with my exercise addict friends)..however, i would encourage you to reach out to Dan and I think his first consult is free...

you might be surprised when you get un-addicted  of how much happier your are.. 

and, he is in boulder which is a lot easier!

Take care, 

It’s hard for me to reconcile in my mind that something I love so much can actually be hurting me. I fell in love with fitness really not that long ago, for I have only been running since 2005 or so and riding bikes and lifting regularly for only the past 4-5 years.  I turned 43 in November and nowadays it's Crossfit classes, running, more weight training, riding, running donkeys, Skimo, mountaineering and more of everything.  There is just not enough time in the week to get it all in.

But, most mornings getting out of bed is not only a practice in patience, it's one of resolve. I hurt everywhere at times: My hips are sore most days and my left shoulder has become the most troublesome thing about me lately. My left shoulder is throbbing most of the day and night. People in my gym joke that I sandbag because my shoulder injuries prevent me from doing a lot of movements, fine then game on.  But the thing is I give into my ego and do the workouts anyways and deal with the consequences later which usually means not being able to lift my arm above shoulder level for a few days (this is being addressed as we speak, more on that in a later post).  There are days I know I should stop but I don't, there are many classes or runs I should just skip but I don't.  My ego gets the best of me.

Why? Because I like reaching a peak and knowing it's not the top of the mountain; I relish the pain as much as I do the pleasure, and failure is one of my greatest turn-on's: If I fail today, you can bet I won't do the same next month. It is all my therapy, and I would feel lost without it. You may be thinking: Shad, do you do this every day? No, not exactly. I have sat on the sidelines when I know a particular injury will only heal with rest, and I've skipped out on a workout to sleep in instead of being at the gym at 5:30am Monday through Friday or missed a mid-day run due to a work meeting. So does this still mean I'm addicted? Maybe or maybe not, I don't know.  And if I am addicted is it really such a bad thing?

Addiction is a strong word, and when we think about what that definition means it's natural for our minds to go straight to drugs and food. It's when we add exercise into the mix, it starts to get controversial. For the most part, research on the topic is minimal, and most experts will say that only roughly three percent of the overall population suffers from an exercise addiction.

Now am I in that 3%?  Who knows, I guess in my mind it is defined by the company you keep.  How do you compare to your peers?  I have no issue taking the day off and sitting on the couch all day to read, but of course I have to be in pretty rough shape to do so.  Yes I may feel guilty for a bit but the bigger issue for me is not letting taking a day off turn into a habit, that is more likely to happen with me.  With all that said I think it is more of a lifestyle to me verses an addiction.  A lifestyle that I have worked hard to create. This includes everything from training, food, sleep, race, ect...   How about you?

Now this has hit home more than anything with this topic... If you can't tell from my previous posts, I have been a fan of Jocko for a couple of years now.  Enjoy..........

Tonka Photo Montage

I miss Tonka aka T-Dog a lot.  After almost 2 weeks since saying goodbye, I still wake up at 4am thinking he needs to go out to the bathroom and look at the sliding backdoor thinking I left him outside by mistake a couple of times a day.  Sigh....

Some photos over the 10 years he was with me.  Love and miss you every day old man.

Photos are in no certain order, just happens to be how I pulled them from my phone. But are generally oldest to newest.

Good Bye Old Man.....

Sourdough Snowshoe Race

Another weekend equals another Colorado adventure.  It is that time of year again for the annual Sourdough Snowshoe race.  This year with the upcoming Georgia Death Race in April I needed to do 8 volunteer hours so not only was I racing but also flagging and removing flagging around the race.

Went up Nederland on Friday with Gemma aka Baby Girl and we marked the loop for the 30k racers.  With Tonka passing the day before I did not want to leave her home alone yet.  She is very confused to where he is and acting somewhat depressed like myself.  Course marking GPS: https://www.strava.com/activities/1376718207

Baby Girl in her cold weather gear ready to go do some flagging!

Someone worked so hard flagging the course!

Saturday morning I ran the short race (11.5 miles) just cruising along and enjoying being in the mountains again.  Hiked/jogged the first 2 miles with Clyde catching up since it has been a while since we have talked or seen each other.  After leaving Clyde I caught up to Harsha and his wife around mile 3 and spent a mile running with them for it has been a few years since we have seen each other as well.  Great catching up with others!  Anyways decided to treat it as a progression effort and picked up the pace heading back.  Ran a 1:31 the first half of the race and a 1:04 the second half to end up in 5th place.  Fun morning out there.  Tracks: https://www.strava.com/activities/1378587332

After finishing I quickly changed into dry clothes and drove around to the Lake Brainard road to hike the loop for the long race and remove the flagging.  One could say I was pretty wiped out and ended up paying the piper for the rest of the week.  First time on snowshoes in a few years and I cover 23 miles in 2 days, yeah my hips were shot.  Tracks for flag removal: https://www.strava.com/activities/1378588026

Such a great event, give it a shot someday!

Moose!!! Baby is in the trees

Views on the loop when removing flagging