proof of life

needed a first hand look. angeles crest has returned to a fall race date and on the schedule for next year, bucket list race that made sense. i was surprised at how motivated to run it made me. 

so, wanted a baseline. had a plan, wanted to take a bite and see what i could chew. 

showed up. found a dive bar, drank a beer and played some pool. grabbed a nap underneath an early starting nervous 100k runner whos pack testing jumps made it sound like they were coming through the ceiling. coffee'd up. stuffed all the unnecessary "mandatory" gear into a waist belt i never wear and waited patiently while 650+ runners were narcissistically funneled through a chute so they could high five the founder. sat back and watched hundreds of runners awkwardly navigate taking out poles for a 20ft dirt road climb. 

*le sigh. 

i don't have the mileage or any long runs to speak of, but i have a healthy body and some consistency on the backend of being injured and burnt crispy last year. 90 minutes into this deal at the top of the first climb behind a conga line of nervous breakfast farts and awkward conversation at 8000 ft i decided to stop taking it so gently and run 100 mile effort. the course was beautiful and trails were excellent. i moved up 200+ places over the next few hours and surprised myself with every buzz of the watch eclipsing each mile. felt smooth the whole time and was still strong at the end. there is still some good running in me after all. 

proof of life. i have an internal plan of what's to come. time to see where it leads me