2013 Racing Adventures

Vancouver, BC running adventure

Julie running in Vancouver, BC on our year-end running tour of the city.

As this year wraps up it’s time to make plans for the next. We’ve had an awesome 2012 on many levels, running included, and as a result, we’ve set the bar high for ourselves to keep pushing on for new experiences and new perspectives.

We’re currently road-tripping down the West coast with Ohio being our temporary home for much of the winter and spring. Objective number one is Operation Grandparent where we plan to spend time with our aging grandparents and help them out as best we can. We’re also runners so we also plan to get our run on back east.

The bar has been set though. In 2012 we ran a combined 20 marathons in 7 different states and 5 countries. Combined, we also ran two 50k races, one 50 miler, and three 100 milers between the two of us. It was an awesome year and we can’t wait to get going with 2013.

Philosophically, we’ve largely moved on from the shorter races, away from the roads and tracks and onto the mountains and trails. We love the roads and the track and all they’ve given us but we also are happy with what we’ve done there. We feel like it’s time to really focus on the longer distances because there is so much we have failed to achieve there. They require a different physical and mental set of skills than the shorter races and I simply haven’t figured them out yet. I love all that comes with a new challenge and I want to win, or at least move into the top 10 finisher category in the ultra world.

Therefore, to start the new year, we’ve built a pretty cool schedule that takes us around the Midwest with plenty of racing opportunities. Here it is:

 

1/26 Planet Adventure Winter Marathon in Indiana. This one starts at 6:30 pm, is on trails, and will be completely in the dark.

2/2 Groundhog Day Marathon in Grand Rapids MI. The race organizers are hoping for snow and a challenge, I say yeah, bring it on!

2/9 Holiday Lake 50k in Lynchburg, VA. The race director, David Horton has become a big supporter of ours and especially of Julie’s books. And now we’re excited to try one of his races down in VA.

3/9 Land Between the Lakes 50 miler in Kentucky. It’s a qualifier to be in the Western States Lottery. Our running friend Eric Schneider has signed up, my brother may be in too, and we may even end up with a Rumblestrip sighting too.

4/20 Free State Trail Run 100k in Lawrence, KS. My brother Jeff and Eric Schneider are planning on doing this one so it’ll be hard for us to pass it up. We haven’t paid the entry fee but this one is definitely on our radar.

5/11 Ice Age Trail 50 miler in Wisconsin. It could be said that we’re doing the Eric Schneider running tour as we are doing three months in a row of racing together. Good by us! We love company and camaraderie.

 

We have a little more time in between some of the races to potentially fit in a few more but this is the plan for now. Along with wanting to get better at racing ultras, we are also looking to get into good thru-hiking shape as we plan on hiking the CDT starting in June.

Big plans for 2013 and room for more fun. We love talking about great adventures and better ways to live so please try to convince us to sign up for a race with you, tell us about how we should train, or how to live a more adventurous life in 2013. Happy New Year to all and happy racing!

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