2011 was a difficult year for me. I underwent back surgery in October of 2010. I had an aggressive race schedule planned for the year, with my first race in February, Moab Red Hot 50K. I ended up pushing my recovery and started running again 2 months after the surgery. I raced fairly well during Moab considering the conditions, pain and under training with a race time of 6:55:03. My next race was the Antelope Island Buffalo 50 Miler, in the end of March. i took several days off to recover from Moab then started a aggressive training schedule to be ready. My friend Bryce planned a training run out on the island where we did 26 good miles 2 weeks prior to the race. I felt good going in and started out strong. At mile 18 I started having hamstring problems and my mental focus went out the door. I did a few more miles then threw in the towel. My first DNF. I was disappointed and mead a effort to regain the focus I was struggling to retain. My next race was the Timp Trail Marathon in May. I was nervous and wanted to go out slow and finish strong. The conditions were looking good down low on the mountain, however up high there was still allot of snow and mud. Just what a trail race should be... right? I did ok with a finish time of 5:55:58. My back was sore but the legs were strong. I was still much slower than last year and I knew that the recovery from the surgery was still nagging at me. I took it easy for the next 2 weeks then ran the Squaw Peak 50 Miler. The race director had to change the course due to trail conditions caused by the extreme amount of snow still at elevation. I hated the new course. It seemed as if i could never get into a rhythm. I ended up posting my slowest time ever for this race, 13:26:07 one and a half hours slower than last year. My back was extremely sore after this race. I was glad that i had finished but for some reason lost my mojo! I had no motivation left. the rest of the year was lost in random runs with spurts of good training, intermingled with periods of extreme laziness. I have now started running somewhat regularly, and have started to run longer miles. I have entered several races for 2012 and am trying to lose the 15 lbs i packed on from my inactivity. My mantra for 2012 will be RUN MORE EAT LESS!
