What About the Aspen Backcountry Marathon?

Oh, my running.  You may have noticed that I haven’t talked about that lately.  I’ve been meaning to…  Drumroll….

I’m not running the Aspen Back Country Marathon…this year.  We had an injury in our group and, individually, we each decided that no one will do the race this year if we all can’t do it this year.  Simple as that.

At first I was bummed and then, I felt a wave of relief; I’ve been training for something for the past 6 months!  I didn’t realize the expectations and pressure I put on myself until it wasn’t there anymore.  Feels good.  This is not to say I do not love the goals I set for myself and racing or that I was doing too much (I’m always doing too much).  I just needed a break whether I wanted one or not. We all did.  So, it all worked out for the best.

Without any planned races on the horizon, I feel relaxed in some ways and anxious in others.  As for the anxiety, preparing for a race gives me the structure and accountability that I need.  Without it, I feel a little lost.  When I’m training for an event, I set a schedule, I commit to a certain level of physical fitness and I follow through.  Without a race on the horizon, I’m all over the place in terms of exercise.  I guess I never appreciated the level of consistency race training demands.  It’s not like I’m some Olympic athlete getting ready for some big race (World Championships) but, I take every race I enter seriously.  I want to do well by my own standards and be prepared to the point where I minimize injury.  That requires commitment.  Oh – and follow through too.

For right now, I’m running for fitness and pleasure (race training is pleasure too) and that’s all.  I’m mixing up my fitness routine and that’s never a bad thing.  It’s not like this will last long.  Have we met?  I have my list of races I want to run.  And, I will get crackin’ on that list soon enough.  When I know what’s next, you’ll be the first to know.  Until then, I’ll share my food, my restaurants, and any running-related insights that come up a long the way.  In other words, I’ll keep you guessing!

What’s on your race bucket list?