obligatory year end 2025-by-the-numbers-and-other-stuff note: chapter 3/tokyo drift

 

(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 after hour 20 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 a volunteer shift. 

the title is also a reference to this.)

• I didn't think it was appropriate to discuss this in my last race report, but just prior to racing Tunnel Hill, I made the decision to head back north - not home to Canada, but rather to Anchorage, AK, after spending just under two years in the flatlands of SE TX.  The move was largely influenced by professional factors, but this dumb sport is pretty guilty too.  
• For starters, I did get the hard reset I wanted in 2024, but everything hurts more now since speed is the game down here.  It felt nice to PR my 100mi time just under a decade after my last PR, but not having an offseason since just prior to Cocodona in 2023 is starting to get to me.  Continued attendance of this church is approaching a point of mild discomfort.
• The hard reset has completely ruined my technical downhill speed and I need to get back on that.  It'll be nice to regularly ski again to get this going again.  
• my weird limp is worse.  tread wear on my right heel's outsole is accelerated relative to the rest of my shoes.
• while I used to give blood regularly in Canada too, I do it religiously here as the perks are so much better, but the first couple days of running on lower blood volume hit so much harder in this environment and the bonks arrive way too early.  i could just let my body catch back up and do another sport, but my spirit just isn't oriented like that right now.  
• All my time in Colorado, as well as rural parts of the mainland over the last 18 months has made me realize I may be feral, and concrete metroplexes are not for me.  
• This is also not an excuse for my social awkwardness or for me to tolerate my toxic personality traits.....
• as I may need something stronger than therapy.  Like an exorcist.  
• It'll be nice to say "we have moose and mountains at home" again.  
• Don't get me wrong, I would still move to western Colorado in a heartbeat if the opportunity presents itself, and the good folks with Freestone Endurance and Run Rabbit Run will always have a home for me, so I'll be there at least twice a year.
• All of this year's traveling finally got to me and I got to the point where I just couldn't keep going with the nomad life of being out-of-state every two weekends.
• The federal government shutdown curtailing air traffic was one of the last nails in this coffin.
• The other part was watching the truck in front of me get viciously t-boned by a distracted truck driver midway while driving home through Woodville, TX from central Louisiana over Thanksgiving.  It made me realize I've dodged a lot of bullets this year.
• Why might you ask I needed to be away every two weekends?  Good question.
• Part of it is just not working every second Friday, letting me do random shit those days.
• Part of it is hilariously cheap basic economy airfares to weird places.  
• Part of it is not being able to do much in the summer without driving and being indoors.  
• As shitty as this year was and as jaded as I am right now - there is much still to be celebrated.
• I made it through the year without breaking any AED pad seals.
• For all my 68W/medic readers - this chucklefuck rides with a Heartsine Samaritan to keep it ultralight, so the pad seals are integrated with the battery.  Replacing pads is more expensive than when owning a Zoll unit as the battery is used up every time the pads are used, so this is a bigger deal than it should be.   
• But at least I only have one set of expiry dates to worry about!
• [I am also not a Stryker shill.]
• The last time I collected more than two belt buckles in a single year was 2019.  I'm still not in it for the buckles, despite being in a prime square-dancing locality.  
• Funny enough, I have not actually put on my cowboy boots since I've moved down here.  
• I got to see a large part of the country that was more inaccessible from Canada.  
• I have zero desire to run Loup Garou and its five loops, but I am utterly enchanted by that part of Louisiana and its many swamps.  It would be a truly magical place if there weren't so many gunshots in the distance.  
• Equally as mesmerizing is the part of Connecticut that prevents the Mid-Atlantic metro from joining up with the rest of New England.
• I got to enable a few folks in my regular 5k run crew to push for a longer distance successfully. 
• It's more than a feeling of "one of us! one of us!" but it's always fun to see folks identify barriers that can be broken and then make them believe their own hype.  

by the numbers:

• Distance run: 4855.17km
• elevation gained: 126,813m
• distance biked: 628.86km
• elevation gained: 1049m (lol!)
• max distance: 44.06km at the Houston Marathon as a bike medic
• money spent at The Feed: $2379.23 (fuckin' Maurten, amirite)

ultra races run:

1. Bandera 100k - January 11
2. Hardrock 100mi - July 11
3. Tunnel Hill 100mi - November 8

Currently committed 2026 schedule:

• nothing for races!
• all of the volunteering!
• if you need a crew/witch doctor for yours - hit me up!

last year's new years resolutions:

1. Wilderness First Responder certification.  done!  it now can tell my aid station comrades that "I do foot stuff" and have it mean something non-sexual.
2. Leverage WFR certification accordingly and volunteer hard.  done!  i've made non-running appearances this year at the Chevron Houston Marathon, Rocky Raccoon 100, Rocky Raccoon 50, Woodlands Marathon, Georgia Death Race, Brazos Bend 50, BC Backyard Ultra, Cherokee Ultra, Iron Legs, Moose Mountain Trail Races, Run Rabbit Run, Sawatch 50/50, Javelina Jundred, Brazos Bend 100, and Snowdrop 55h.  NSAIDs may have been handed out like candy (non-recklessly though).
3. keep the WSER qualification going. Done! and done next year's!
4. finish Hardrock CCW.  not done, but mentally I'm in the same spot as if I did successfully pull this off.  I'm at peace with what happened and consider it a blessing on how things go from here.
5. cactus to clouds.  not done, see #2.

this year's new years resolutions:

1. no racing.  with 2027's WSER qualifier all set and with no joy from the 2026 draw, and with another stupid long-distance move on the horizon, I am in a good spot to let my body catch up/detox just to retox.  I'm not confident I will hit this goal as there are a few weird remote 50's I'd like to put my name in for, but being back in the boonies will allow for some wacky adventure ideas to deter that.  
2. no negative patient outcomes.  can't believe I have to say this, but here we are.  I dodged a few tactical nukes on this front and I could do without any unscheduled CISD sessions.
3. get to the point where I can say "I am so back".  while some of you may argue I am right where I need to be, that doesn't apply to how aggravating this sport is to me right now.  I'd like to get back to a place where mountain and distance running just feels easy again, and to get some use out of my running vests a bit more so as to lose the feeling that I can easily tap out at any time.  i'd like to get back to a place where every successive dream feels bigger again.