2013 Annual Summary
The theme for 2013 was run, run, run and run some more.
I finished the year with over 3,000 miles of it, which was about 20% more miles than 2012 (which was about 20% more than any previous year). I ran on trails and on the road, through urban cities, in the mountains, by the beach and in the desert. I ran through snow while freezing my ass off and getting whipped by horizontal winds on Mt. Baldy and I ran in 100+ degree heat in the mountains east of San Diego. Some days I “ran” and some days were outdoor adventures. I had plenty of quiet long runs by myself, but this year I spent more time training with friends than ever before. I feel really fortunate to be part of such a strong running community here in LA and to have developed so many friendships here through endurance sports. And while running is an individual sport, this year it was really proven to me that having the support of a “team” is an essential part of the ultrarunning experience.
Some of my favorite photos (and a few videos) of my most memorable experiences of the year:
January: A snowy, windy, bitterly cold climb up Bear Canyon to Mt. Baldy.
March: Running with a small pack through Trippet Ranch during the Backbone Ultra.
June: Two pictures from San Diego 100. Me (finally) approaching the finish and then hanging out with my pacers, Billy and Elan.
In addition to pacing me for 20 miles, Billy put together this incredible video of my race:
July: Waiting at the start of Badwater, where I crewed and paced Ray Sanchez. That experience was a grueling blast, as always!
August: I did some great runs in the San Gabriels, including my first time up to Cucamonga Peak (first photo). Then, at the end of the month, Billy, Dave, Sally and I did the SoCal Triple Crown (a/k/a the “8,000 Meter Challenge”) – summitting the three highest peaks in Southern California (Jacinto, Gorgonio and Baldy) in one day. Sally even thought to bring birthday hats up Mt. San Jacinto to celebrate Dave’s birthday (second photo).
Billy put together this video of the day:
September: Finish line of Run Rabbit Run, first with Billy, who paced me for the last 25 38 miles of the race (and was instrumental in me getting to the finish line in one piece), then with our whole group, Chris, Elizabeth, Sally and Billy.
Billy put together another great video from Run Rabbit Run:
November: On top of Mt. San Jacinto with Dave, Billy and Ethan, during our Cactus to Clouds run.
This time, Ethan did a video:
And Billy put together a year-end video that does a fantastic job summing up a year in running, adventure and friendship:
And this wouldn’t be complete without two of my favorite photos of the pups:
2013 by the numbers:
Total Run Elevation Gain: 582,815 feet (my first full year tracking elevation gain)
Thoughts on the year:
Part of what made this year a successful one for running is that I didn’t have to take any extended breaks in my training. There were weeks of taper before each of my races and weeks of recovery after them, but I was really fortunate (knock on wood) to bounce back from races and big training runs and to avoid injury. I credit that in large part to consistent training. Also, I’d like to think I’m becoming a smarter runner, switching up terrain and intensity and taking advantage of recovery runs.
The other reason I was able to run so much this year was my race schedule. I raced Bandit 50k in February, the Backbone ultra in March, then San Diego in June, Run Rabbit Run in September and since recovering from Run Rabbit Run, I’ve been training for Brazil 135 (two weeks from today, holy shit!). Those races kept me on a regular training schedule throughout the year. And having Brazil in January meant that instead of taking a bit of an “off-season” after fall races, I ran through those months. (Don’t worry, I have a nice off-season planned after Brazil!)
With all that running, I barely made any time for cycling (I managed four short rides all year, I think). At the beginning of the year, I was swimming regularly, but once summer kicked in and I started putting in the big miles for my races, my swim volume tailed off and then even after those races, I didn’t get in the water a single time in November or December. I used to always swim by myself but this year, nearly every one of my swims was with Evan. Having someone to swim with was a huge motivator and I’m hoping to get back to the pool after Brazil.
Despite the fact that pretty much everyone I know has their 2014 racing plans already set (and many races have already sold out), I’m trying not think beyond Brazil. I definitely have some thoughts about race and adventure goals, but they’re not super well formed yet and I’ll just keep them to myself for now.
I only get credit for pacing the last 25 at RRR? Duuuude…
Anyway, yes – it’s been an amazing year with some crazy awesome adventures (don’t forget the So Cal Triple Crown event we put together in late August!). Kick some ass at Brazil 135 to kick off an even better year in 2014!
wow, can’t believe I shortchanged you like that. error fixed. can’t have that living on the internet forever. And the Triple Crown was super rad. Added that in too!
proof that someone actually reads this thing!