Changing of Seasons

Well, I finally jumped on the bandwagon. Here it is, the first post on my new blog. For those of you who don't know, the name Tattooed Jesus derived from the Boston Marathon. While running the marathon in 2012 with Ashley and Dad, I received tons of cheers from spectators. All of those cheers either referenced my hair, beard or tattoos. Of all the names I was given that day, my favorite was by far Tattooed Jesus. So there you have it, the mystery behind the title.

Last weekend I was out hunting and had an epiphany. I love hunting. Like really love it, I love it just as much as running. However with the limited time each year available to hunt, we have to cram all of our hard work into a couple of months, as opposed to a whole year to run. So in these couple of months hunting is the first priority over running.

Over the past month or two I've barely ran. Maybe 5 or 6 times. My weekends have been focused on hunting. On top of that Ash and I have been looking at and now bought a house! So that didn't leave much time left for running.

While I was sneaking around the woods the last weekend of rifle season, I saw several deer. A couple of which I could've shot if I hadn't already ran out of doe tags for the year. I kept thinking how much I was enjoying myself, but at the same time I couldn't wait for the season to be over so I could start running seriously again. Throughout the season we turn hunting into hard work, but it's always worth it and also a much needed break from running 6 to 7 times a week.

Now that I'm getting back into running, I'm realizing all over again how much I love it. When I'm not running I just feel fat, lethargic and just plain out of shape. I've only ran 4 out of the past 5 days, but I already feel like a new man. I feel better about my fitness and am itching for the racing season to come around full swing. I've just been doing easy road runs, but find myself thinking about ultras. What 50s I want to run this year, what training goals I want to hit and what I can do to feel as prepared as possible for the Eastern States 100 miler.

I think you really need to find a balance in life and hunting is always a great and welcomed break from running for me. Once it's over and time to run again, I feel refreshed and ready to hit the training hard. I'm really happy with how 2013 went and I feel I performed pretty well in my ultras. I was able to win my first ever ultra in April, the Glacier Ridge Trail 50 miler. I also ran 28 minutes faster at the Mohican 100 than I did in 2012, even with stomach issues and puking 62 miles in. I know my training wasn't as good as it could've been or I would've liked and I still need to work on figuring out my in-race nutrition. I have lots of room to improve and can't wait for 2014!