Running Again

I haven't posted in over a year.  There's a good reason for this: I haven't run a race of more than 10 miles since starting my third year of medical school.  My third year started with surgery, and while one of the scrub nurses at the VA advised me that I could make time for my run by skipping dinner, I was too lazy and hungry to make this happen.  Over the six weeks on my surgery rotation, I ran between 5-15 miles, not per week, but total. 

I got a few more runs in over the course of the rest of the year, but I rarely ran more than 3-4 days a week with occasional runs in the 10 mile range on weekends.  Some rotations were lighter, but there was always a tough rotation looming that discouraged me as I looked ahead.  I couldn't sign up for any races because I could never be sure of getting a given weekend day off.  And I felt any time off needed to be spent studying for exams. 

It's a lot of excuses-I know.  I have classmates that maintained their mileage over the year and I have so much respect for them.  It did not happen for me.  And I am moving on.

Now, it is fourth year.  Glorious, "best year of your career" fourth year.  I've been enjoying it for nearly three months and have not yet had to come into the hospital on a weekend.  There's one busy rotation ahead, my acting internship in the PICU, but the rest mostly takes place during weekday daylight hours.  So I am running.

10 days ago I ran 27 miles.  My weekly total that week was 50 for the first time in over a year.  This weekend, 30 is on the calendar for Saturday.  I call myself ultrarunner again.  It feels good.

The race calendar for the next year is taking shape.  Oct 6: FATS 50k with Nathan. Dec 14: Lookout Mountain 50 Mile with Nathan.  Feb 1: Uwharrie 40 Mile.  A spring 100 with plenty of singletrack (Massanutten? Rock Creek Thunder Rock?)  Maybe head back to Bull Run Run 50 Mile if there's time.  There are a lot of opportunities.  I'm excited.

So that's where I've been the past year, and where I hope I'm going in the next year.  I'll do my best to have  tales of massive blisters and clutch slices of pizza in the coming months.  I can't wait to get back on the trails!

-Jordan