obligatory year end 2024-by-the-numbers-and-other-stuff note: chapter 2/electric boogaloo

 

(a little context for my new readers this year: for the last couple of years i've been aggregating unused thoughts that didn't make it into my race reports into a year-end catharsis.  most of these are ideas or discussions with myself i had in a potentially-hallucinogenic stupor around hour 26 of staying awake during an event of some sort, but lately some of these are thoughts i had in a sleep-deprived stupor 30h into an aid station shift. 

like 2021 and 2023, it was difficult this year with only one race on the docket....but unlike those years, there were way more hours alone with the thoughts in my head since there are fewer folks that run long down here.)

• pagan celts used to describe certain places in the world as 'thin places', where reality and the divine are mere feet apart, allowing for profound spiritual experiences.  it's sometimes disorienting, but only because everything we knew is thrown out the window and we see the world fully unmasked and unencumbered.  
• i can tell you that the parts of Greater Houston fully in Harris County is 100% not a thin place for me, and that it's thicccc as fuck.  this is also a reference to the humidity.
• i can also tell you that Texas is big enough that there are occasional spots in the cypress forests and desert and swamps, where I can inhale once and my hypervigilance just disappears like that.  it's just so big that there are actual spots of eerie silence and by extension - tranquility.
• for someone chronically afraid of taking up space - it's almost perfect.
• in a weird way, moving to SE Texas was the hard reset I needed for my janky running gait.
• sure, I've lost my mountains, but Colorado is literally less than 2h of a flight away and costs way less to get to than flying home.  it's kind of disturbing how much money i've spent on flying there this year.
• it's infinitely harder to qualify for Hardrock from here, which will probably force me to either buy property further up north (lol) or broaden my horizons and look for other wacky endeavors not associated with qualifying for that race.  I'll probably still pop my head up there every so often though.  
• except for any state on the Canadian border, Houston is actually weirdly central to everything and if you can one-bag it, it doesn't cost much to fly.  
• I flew to SoCal for Christmas, and gas for my stupid rental Jeep Wrangler 4xe was 4x my airfare.  
• this is also how I will establish myself as a trail running fiend in the Hartford/New Haven area because the ULCC market here is much more developed than in Canada.   
• plus there's a direct flight to AKL!
• this nuance has opened me up to the fact that in a political context that is regularly divisive - running is one of those common denominators that unites us all regardless of your geographic context.
• things move a lot faster here given how flat it is, which gives me a chance to utilize different muscles while strengthening my lame ones.  
• heat training also now comes standard.
• being in a city of immigrants does have its benefits as well - 
• for all the shit that texas gets in our political discourse, i actually feel very welcome around these parts.
• i know it's different the further northwest you go, but I don't need to go up there just yet.  Even if I were to bag the Guadalupe's, I'd probably insert from flying into New Mexico since it's that far away.
• the gastronomic ecstasy i feel here while eating out will never get old.
• unless you're eating pork.  seriously, i haven't found a decent supplier of pork here.  but everything else does not miss.
• I haven't had a proper off-season since the end of December 2022.  I've pretty much just been running since then.
• it's not likely that I'll ever get an off-season anymore - just a couple months of reduced volume.  race season will probably run from november to hurricane season in june, and then I'll just maintain just enough fitness to be able to pace 30-50 mi on a dime until the tropics calm down.  and then the whole cycle repeats.
• it's flat enough for roller skiing here, but understandably the pro shops are few and far between so I haven't bought a pair yet.  I did however pick up a wide-tire single speed bike to reduce my driving exposure.  goddamn, i should have taken up track cycling in another life.
• the end of this iteration did not age well.
• while I have not been actively chasing Hardrock qualifiers, I certainly did not expect to get in again right after I moved to an area flatter than a pancake.  
• the plan is to treat this running pretty much as a wacky family adventure with friends.  it is a faster course, but I'll be lucky if I can even hit my 2022 time.
• at present 2/3 of my pacers have gone the other direction and I will have the right people there.
• i have exactly a half year between Bandera and hardrock, and in that time I intend to
• reduce my vert til Good Friday
• this will let me try to get my gait fixed up by going hard on the weights and making a conscious effort to reduce my heel strike
• resume vert bagging weekends after the holy weekend - ATL, CLE, BDL/HVN, LAX/SAN will probably be my shoulder season destinations until DEN is viable
• consider moving to CO for a month before the race (i know, wtf is this) and/or do a stupid run camp 4-6 weeks out

by the numbers:

• distance run: 4316.36km
• elevation gained: 90,502m
• distance biked: 397.4km
• elevation gained: 2074m

ultra races run:

1. San Juan Solstice 50mi - 22 June
2. Waldo 100k - 3 August

Currently committed 2025 schedule:

1. Bandera 100k - 11 January
2. Hardrock 100mi - 11 July

last year's new year's resolutions:

1. FKT the East Coast Trail, end to end.  the one in newfoundland: yeah that's not happening.  notwithstanding that I can make it to Asia, South America, Oceania and most of Europe for less money to get me to St. John's from here - I would have to train through hurricane season in order to hit this trail during its sweet spot.
2. get into 300mi shape: also not happening.  see above.
3. keep pacing/crewing for friends and strangers: just friends :(

this year's new years resolutions:

1. Wilderness First Responder certification.  I need to get my blister treatment game high graded for crewing.
2. Leverage WFR certification accordingly and volunteer hard.  I have made too many running friends who are all burnt out with racing and the peer pressure is too much.
3. keep the WSER qualification going. now that I can pretty much heat train every day up to the race.....it'll be interesting to push hard on this goal race with like two handhelds and no shirt, Krupicka-style.
4. finish Hardrock CCW.  I'll probably end up throwing my name back in the lottery if I finish because I like entering things I have no business being in, but I think I will be at peace with just volunteering at this race regardless of what happens.
5. cactus to clouds.  i've made enough friends on the SoCal side that this is very viable.

"Pyrophytes can be classed as active or passive. Active pyrophytes actually encourage fires as they often require fire in order to reproduce. Passive pyrophytes resist the effects of fires."

Andy.winfield. (2019, February 12). Category: Pyrophytes. University of Bristol Botanic Garden. https://botanicgarden.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/category/pyrophytes/