Not Quite 40 - 40 Mile Run

For the past few years I have tried to find a way to celebrate my birthday (month) by doing something that will stretch me and challenge me.

• In 2013 I ran 36 laps around a local track to celebrate my 36th birthday. 
• In 2014 I ran the Inaugural Dopey Challenge at Disney. Four races in four days. Starting with a 5k and going all the way up to a full marathon. 
• In 2015 I ran my first 50 mile race the Cloudland Canyon 50 mile run put on by RunBum Tours.

This year is no different as I decided to create my own challenge to celebrate my 39th Birthday by running 40 miles at a local park. I have decided to call the event Adam's Not Quite 40 - 40 Mile Run!

The Challenge:

On January, 30th I will be running a 2 mile paved loop around Veterans Park in Watkinsville, GA. Each loop I will be stopping by my car to mark off a count sheet to mark my progress. I will need to make 20 laps around the park to run 40 miles.

I have a friend, Ross, who is planning on doing the whole challenge with me, and there are other friends who are planning on coming out to run 1 or 2 laps with me. This will also be a kind of training run for Ross and me as we are both signed up for the Georgia Death Race in March. 

Only a crazy ultra runner celebrates his birthday by running really far, but it's a way to make your birthday memorable!

2015 Year in Review

As we move into the new year I begin to think through what running goals I would like to accomplish this year.  Before I can look ahead to what is next it is always good to look back to where I have been.

So here are my highs and lows from 2015.

Highs:

Racing: The year started off with running my first 50 miler the Cloudland Canyon 50 mile run in Rising Fawn, GA. This was the first year of the event, and was a really great first 50 miler for me. The day was filled with lots of highs and lows, but in the end I finished the challenge and felt very accomplished.

Training: I made a new friend this year who shares my interest in going long and it has given me a lot more accountability in my training. Also, I now have someone to log those long runs with which makes training more fun.

Adventure: I was able to get out on some new adventures this year running a 12 hour endurance run as a part of a relay team, running to the summit of Rabun Bald, running the Coosa Backcountry trail, and exploring some other great trails around the North Georgia Mountains. I love being outside and running gives me opportunities to go places and see the beauty of God's creation.

Lows:

Lack of Motivation: After I finished Cloudland Canyon I felt a lack of motivation for running. I struggled to get out and run each day. Even with big races coming up I know I didn't put in the training that was necessary.

Bad Racing:  Because of my lack of motivation and not training properly I went into some races extremely undertrained and paid for it. I was able to finish all my big races from the past year, but a lot of them were ugly.

Missed Goals: I went into 2015 with only one big racing goal - to finish the Cloudland Canyon 50 which was in January. Because I didn't have any other big goals to be accomplished after the 2nd week in January I wasn't able to get it together to meet my goal of running 1,200 miles for the year. I missed that one by a lot by only running 862 for the year.

As I move into 2016 there are some big goals that I am trying to set for myself that will hopefully push me to train and work hard this year!

How did your 2015 year of running go?