Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

Hey folks! Just a very quick update here about forthcoming racing places.  Yep, I've done the dirty deed and have gone and registered for another road marathon - what the hell was I thinking?! Don't I remember my aim of breaking the 3 hour barrier for one last time before I get much older? We know how that turned out!  I tried in Las Vegas in November 2015 - it was raining and the city was under a severe wind warning - needless to say, I got fed up of battling a ridiculously strong headwind whilst trying to run fast and I pretty much gave up - I finished that marathon in around 3.28.  Las Vegas Marathon - Windy, windy and windy!!! Then like a fool, I went back for more, this time at the Phoenix Marathon in February 2016. That was the day I realised I was no longer a road runner and I found no joy whatsoever in trying to maintain a consistent pace on pavement for 26 miles. I got bored half way through and pretty much walked the last 10 miles, eventually ...

The Whiskey Basin 88km trail race was one of my goal races for this year and I really wanted to run well. OK, I’d had a niggling ITB issue since the Black Canyon back in February and had eased back on the miles as well as the intensity, but even if I wasn’t 100% physically ready for the race, mentally I was raring to go. I had registered for the race back in December and since then, I had kept an eye on the entry list to see who my competition would be. There were some familiar names in there and I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but I honestly felt that if everything gelled on the day, I could quite possibly win. Two weeks prior to the race, another name appeared on the entry – Kristina Pham – a good friend and a fellow Aravaipa Racing Team member. I was delighted to see that Kristina was entered, but it also meant that even before I toed the line, I had talked myself into no better than 2 nd place on the day. You see, Kristina is no sloth, and even though openly adm...