all dressed up with nowhere to go...

sweat and beer don't ease the ache. the heart hurts. it will pass.

i left the car loaded. i'm not ready to deal with that yet.

a night run put things into perspective for me. it would be selfish to consider running a race when there are folks who are being evacuated from their homes due to the wildfires. silly to ask over tasked firefighters to battle a blaze so a recreational sporting event can take place. i support the boards decision. it was the right thing to do.

what is lost? money spent on material supports and entry fee. what was gained? i trained with vision and hope this past 6 months and truly took a journey. it was the essence of what i used to blog about in the trailrunning lifestyle. i sit here writing this in the best shape i have ever been in. mentally. spiritually. physically.

emotionally? well. i already told you my heart was a little broken. this too, shall pass.

keep in mind that nobody loves this race more than the western states board, volunteers and race committee. they exhausted every feasible means to safely put this event on. in the end, they looked out for the runners they way they would look out for us on race day. they made a decision in our best interest. 34 times this race started as scheduled. races like hardrock, angeles crest and wasatch have been around for much shorter periods of time and have already had to cancel at least once. 34 years is a pretty good track record.

there will be other races. there will be another western states. i will always consider this one my first.

so it goes...