I was hungry.  We’d spent what seemed like forever in line for the free pasta dinner, and we finally had food.  Steve and I were at a small table against the wall.  Surrounded by other Racers, we dug in to our slightly overcooked noodles and surprisingly well-made red sauce (meat for me, vegetarian for Steve).

“I can’t believe it,” Steve said.  “We’re actually here.”

I nodded slowly, looking around the dining room.  “Dude.  It’s finally real.  This is really going to happen.”

‘Here’ was the town of Grande Cache, Alberta.  That’s in Canada, eh.  Two thousand miles from home, over 4100 feet above sea level in the Canadian Rockies.  ‘It’ was the Canadian Death Race.  125 kilometers (about 76 or so miles) on trails through the wilderness, including three mountain summits.  17,000 feet of elevation gain.  Only 24 hours to complete it.

Steve and I had been planning and training for the race for nearly a year.  In the weeks leading up to our departure, neither one of us experienced much in the way of the usual pre-race anxiety.  We focused on getting gear in order, coordinating driving plans; Joy and I would meet Steve and his family near Glacier National Park in Montana a few days before the race.  The race was so far away, in time, in distance, so far from anything we had ever done, that we had nothing to compare it to.  Until that dinner, the night before the start, it didn’t seem real.

Miraculously, that night I slept like the dead.  I’d had my ritual pint of Guinness (4.2% ABV?  WTF Canada?) and crashed.  Up and out early in the pale, chilly dawn.  I munched down a bagel with peanut butter and chatter with the relay team camped next to us.  Steve was up and worried; he had hardly slept.  One drawback of Tent City is that you’re, well, in a tent.  You can hear everything.  I’d managed to shut it all out, but Steve wasn’t as lucky.

Click to read more …

I’m a terrible host - at least, online.  You really should come to more parties.

Okay, so rundown for 2008: I ran three marathons, three half marathons, and the running leg of a triathlon relay (TEAM MAN, whooo!).  Pictures for most, and eventually all, are located at the fabulous new gallery I’ve got set up at mathein.net.  Check it out, there are more pictures there than anyone could possibly ever want.  Even one of me in my underwear.

This year, I’ve registered for three marathons - again, and one half marathon, so far.  And that’s just the spring/summer schedule.  We’ll see how things go as far as fall races.  I’ve decided not to announce which races I’m running in advance this year, because I realized it’s kind of dumb to tell the internets when you’re going to be out of town when your address is easy to find.

That said, I will be running the inaugural Wisconsin Marathon here in Kenosha on May 2.  It’s a nice flat course along the lake, and I’ve run portions of it dozens of times.  If training goes well, maybe I’ll break my 3:57 PR, thanks to the lack of hills!

Switching gears: one of my races this summer is out West, and after, Joy and I are going to spend some time camping and hiking around Wyoming.  Check out these awesome trails we’re thinking about:
http://www.free-press.biz/Jackson-Hole-WY/Goodwin-Lake-Trail.html
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGR082-018
http://www.jacksonholenet.com/blogs/blog_detail.php?n=101037
http://www.landscapeimagery.com/mapwy.html (the cluster in the central west and southeast)

If anyone else is interested, contact me for dates and details.