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Here’s a look back at a very interesting year! Overall I am content with the whole year and am looking forward to another great year. I have been surprisingly busy for the last 12 months and have really enjoyed every single adventure. I haven’t been a very good blogger, runner or biker lately and I am hoping to change that over the next few months. Thanks again for reading and keeping up with me throughout the year!
The year started as every year does – snowy! January 1st came in with 16” of snow in Capac and made it look like a winter wonderland. I spent most of the day shoveling and was amazed at how it looked like a UP winter! As the winter continued, the Michigan Weather Theory took effect (If you don’t like the weather now, wait 5 minutes!) I ran the Kahtoola Mountain Run at Pine Knob when it was -3 degrees and with windchills WAY below zero! I tore my calf muscle during school one day which took me out of training for over 4 months! I spent the month of April in physical therapy to rehabilitate the leg and my overall strength. I also got a membership to the YMCA in PH. It was interesting to swim in an old Pool and was looking forward to the opening of their new building. The only problem with the Y is that it is a 30 minute one-way drive! With gas prices near $4 per gallon, that makes swimming an expensive sport. In June, I started to run again but took it very slowly so I wouldn’t re-tear my calf. After the purchase of a new kayak, I was able to add that to my training schedule. During the summer, I spent as much time on the water as I could and was able to take some pretty cool adventures. I paddled a handful of rivers and was on multiple trips on Lake Michigan @ the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Lake Superior @ the St. Mary’s River and Lake Huron @ Port Austin. There were a number of scary situations and even a few close calls but I can’t write about them here because my Mom reads the posts! :) One of my goals for the summer of 2009 is to find a paddling partner so I don’t have to paddle into those adventures alone! Also during the summer, I took the position of Head Cross Country coach at the High School. This has both positive and negative attributes. I effectively lost 3 weeks of hard-earned summer vacation and was limited to weekend trips instead of week-long adventures. That was the bad part and it really isn’t that bad. It was really nice to have my own cross team and to have the chance to finally run while coaching. I trained all season and was happy to see the season come to a close. I think I did a good job at building a team and have plenty of adjustments to make for next season. I really did not race as much as I would have liked and did not train nearly enough to even think about racing well! I did run more miles during the month of July than in any month for the past 3-4 years which was a surprise since it didn’t seem like I did much at all. I participated in a handful of Triathlons and was somewhat successful at those. I put in a mediocre effort at the Tailwind Cyclocross series and had the best race of the year at the Iceman! I had 4 months off from February to June and then took 2 more off during November and December. So for 6 months, I finished with a low total running mileage and an even lower bike mileage. Since January 1st, I have started training again and hope to put in a better year of running. I turned 30 during 2008 and have moved up in the age groups for all racing. I am now the ‘young’ guy again!
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