Non-Jogging and the Hardrock 100

Andrew and I spent our Thanksgiving weekend this year in Portland in the company of good friends, and excessive amounts of excellent food. I made it a point to get out on a few solid runs and was blessed with some great weather. (If it's not raining, Portlanders always walk out the door and declare it to be a beautiful day, even if it's overcast and gloomy. A beautiful perspective requiring many rainy days to cultivate, I'm sure.)

A beautiful day for running in the Columbia River Gorge

I also had the pleasure of joining Russ, Gary, and Carl for a guest stint on their podcast, 3 Non Joggers. I have to admit, it was pretty fun. 

If you're interested in listening to some running talk and quite a bit of goofing around, you can take a listen to episode #51 here in iTunes. 

And lastly: the Hardrock 100 lottery was today. Oh wow.

I GOT IN!!

It's still kind of sinking in because truthfully, I never expected to get in. I actually had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to take things a bit easier this year after all the intense training for Western States last year. 

During my experience pacing Betsy at Hardrock, I kept telling myself the race was insane (And it is!) because even in the midst of it all I could feel my hidden desires to run it. It's like being attracted to the bad boy at school - you know he's trouble, but you just can't stop thinking about him!

I hesitated quite a bit over entering the lottery because I wasn't sure if I was really ready for this race. Then I realized that adventure is about doing things that hold a bit of uncertainty, and let's face it, Hardrock for me is more of an adventure than a race.

Besides, if I waited until I thought I was ready, I'd probably never sign up.

One of my most powerful motivators is fear, and I think it's safe to say that I will have no shortage of motivation for training this winter. The excitement is slowly growing already, and I am certain this will turn out to be the adventure of a lifetime.

Colorado, here I come! 

With Olga and Meghan in Silverton last summer.