2007 Bear 100

The Scene Begins…  The name of this blog originates from the song “Camera One” by Josh Joplin.  Reading the lyrics does not do it justice, find the song and listen.  It is a poignant reflection of life – an observation of having faith, having doubt, and how we are all actors in our own movie.  Don’t be a mindless sightseer caught up in buying a star-map to the sun.  The camera is rolling, what will you do next?

2004: After being very active and in good shape as a bike racer throughout most of the 90’s, the 100 hour weeks, all-nighters at work, and poor diet had caught up with me. I stepped on the scale and it read 220 pounds. My physical activity for the entire year prior had consisted of a single 11 mile bike ride.

2005: I had radically altered my diet for the better and ridden my bike thousands of miles. My weight was now 155. I won 3 out of 4 events at the training camp for our cycling team, and went on to have a great racing season.

2006: I finished the road cycling season in September as strong as I’ve ever been. My workplace organized a team to do a 5k running race (Race for the Cure). I started running 2 weeks before the race thinking I was just going to smoke it. Couldn’t have been more wrong. I was sitting home with bags of ice on my knees the day of the race and didn’t even get to participate. I couldn’t believe how fragile I was despite riding my bike 5,000+ miles per year for the last 3 years. This lit a fire in me and I decided to step up to the challenge of learning to run and see if my body could adapt and toughen up. I promptly came down with a severe case of ITB syndrome and spent most of November and December walking with a limp and doing little to no running.

2007: With the ITB calmed down a bit, I began the year with a 3 mile run. This would be the start of my journey to becoming a runner. I set a very aggressive schedule which led to the completion of my first 100 mile race in September. Just one year after I started running.

2008:  Fortune smiled on me this year, as I became a member of the Wasatch Speed Goat Mountain Racing Team.  A grass-roots organization put together by Scott Mason.  I am certainly the least experienced and accomplished runner of the group, but I am learning fast and trying to represent the team and our sponsors in a good way.  Runners are typically a very individualistic bunch.  To me, being part of a team has been second-nature with my cycling background.  I like it.  I have also been working with Karl Meltzer as my coach.  He has helped me in so many ways, my learning curve has definitely been a steep one!  I had some good races this year, but also went 0-2 in 100 milers.  I quit Leadville at mile 77, and had a DNS in Boulder due to a stomach virus that kept me in bed for a couple of weeks.  Fuel for the fire…

2009:  Despite a very stubborn achilles injury that lasted through the entire year, I still managed a fairly successful season.  The injury kept me from running fast, but I was still able to run long.  Highlights included a good run at Red Hot in Moab, taking 1st place (as the only finisher) in the combined Sageburner 50K/Growler 64M MTB race, qualifying for Boston in my first road marathon, and getting the big buckle at the Leadville 100 trail race.  I continued to learn a ton from coach Karl, and my teammates on the Wasatch Speed Goat Mountain Racing Team.  I’m still a long way from where I would like to be in terms of performance, but have finally gotten a glimpse or two of what it’s like for me to run and race well.  The theme going forward is to simply keep at it.  As I still struggle quite a bit with injury and adaptation to this sport – hopefully I’m starting to get a tiny bit smarter about things I do and also incorporate other forms of training as I strive for some balance.

2010:  Highlights of this year included traveling to and running the Boston Marathon, running two 25K trail races with my son, a week long backpacking trip in the Gore Range, and fighting my way to my 3rd 100 mile finish with the help of my friends.  I trained very hard over the summer and logged 419 miles in July for my biggest ever monthly total.  I hurt my foot in mid-September and did very little running for the rest of the year.  It healed up in a few weeks and I was ready to get back on track with regular training after the holidays.

This blog is a place for me to document the training and races that I do.

Enjoy!
Chris