2013 -- The Year of Failure

In this time of looking back on the year that's ending and the new year on the horizon I always like to find trends going on in the sport.  And, I must admit, scanning the reports from 2013 makes one thing clear to me, 2013 was the "Year of Failure."  Sure, I bet that there have been other years with as many failures but have there been any other years like this one where so many people have written so eloquently, and often exhaustively, about those failures?  I don't think so.

So, here is a short annotated list of some of the failure reports from 2013 in ultrarunning and here's hoping all these athletes turn these failures into purposeful successes in 2014:

Dakota Jones report from Japan

http://www.irunfar.com/2013/10/dropping.html

Adam Campbell hanging it up as a professional runner

http://cdamaampbell.blogspot.com/2013/07/raw-honesty-decision.html

Anton Krupicka succumbing to injury at UTMB

http://blog.ultimatedirection.com/utmb-2013/

Anton Krupicka calling it a day in his record attempt at Nolans

http://blog.ultimatedirection.com/failure/

Jen Benna at Western States

http://www.jenbenna.com/?p=729

Jacob Rydman at Western States

http://jacobrydman.blogspot.com/2013/07/2013-western-states-100-broken.html

Joe Uhan at Western States

http://joeuhan.blogspot.com/2013/07/bending-map-2013-western-states-100.html

Jeremy Humphrey at Western States (and anything in the spring and early summer)

http://stayvertical928.blogspot.com/2013/07/western-update-im-ok.html

Rod Bien at the San Diego 100

http://rodbien.blogspot.com/2013/08/motivated.html

Ian Sharman at the Javelina 100

http://sharmanian.blogspot.com/2013/10/exploring-limits-of-body.html

Anna Frost

http://www.irunfar.com/2013/07/reigniting-the-fire.html

Happy New Year everyone!

AJW

Ultra Performance of the Year

Thanks everyone for voting in last week's poll.  In case you're wondering, I am using this as a test case for potentially launching a sort of People's Choice Awards type thing some time in the future so I am gathering data and then comparing it to the UR Mags awards over time.

This last poll was interesting as Rob Krar won the mens UROY in a landslide while Michele Yates and Rory Bosio had a very close vote on the women's side.  Of course, on the last day of the poll Pam Smith set a track 100 mile world record so that changed things.

Anyway, here are the POY polls.  Voting open through Monday morning.

Ultrarunner of the Year Voting

The votes have now been cast for Ultrarunning Magazine's year end awards and we should know the results in the next couple weeks. In that context, I have opened two new polls as kind of a people's choice awards type thing.  Please vote!

New Western States Qualifying Standards

I am thrilled to see the Western States Board and Craig Thornley take the bold step to amend their qualifying standards.  And, while they fell just short of my long-held conviction that a 100 mile requirement is appropriate, they have moved the event in a direction that it needed to go.  By requiring at least a 100K finish in under 16 hours in a small pool of races that meet their collective approval they have raised the bar and maintained their long-term commitment to producing an egalitarian event.

This decision should be applauded and celebrated.  Over the past decade interest in Western States has exploded and in response to that growth the organizers have struggled to maintain the event's character, remain true to their roots, adhere to the ethical and environmental standards that are dear to them, and provide fair and open access to the event. These new standards do all those things and more.

In my opinion, a related consequence of this action will be to enhance the entire sport of ultra running, not just Western States.  By providing a short-list of races in which to qualify that have incentivized Race Director's to produce quality events in a broad geographical areas which I can only imagine will be good for the sport.  And, not surprisingly, they have immediately added a certain appeal to the 63 races on their list.

Bravo Craig and Western States!  Great job.

#seeyouinsquaw

Injury Update

A few readers have asked, offline, what kind of injury I am grappling with and what kind of rehab I am doing so, here's the scoop:

After all the soreness from WS wore off I had a severe stabbing pain that was lingering on my left hamstring.  The pain was high up the back of my leg and often radiated up into my glutes and groin.  It also was kind of a clenching pain that hurt more as I extended my leg or attempted to run fast downhill.  Most of the time the pain was centered at the attachment point of my hamstring and butt muscle.

In late July I finally went the doctor and he took an x-ray which showed, in his words, "A very impressive bone spur" in my left hip.  Turns out the degeneration in my left hip over two decades has caused me to put an extraordinary load on my hamstring/glute and after WS it just said, "Enough!"

So, first thing I did after going to physical therapy was to buy one of those big, heavy thick rubber bands.  The stretch I do daily is intended to pull my hip backward and free up the damaged tissues.  Over time, they should heal.  Also, I have been getting weekly massage treatments on my leg from a licensed orthopedic massage therapist (her name is Kim Coslett and she is amazing).  Those treatments, combined with the rubber band stretches and some snake oil have enabled me to get back to running 30-40 miles a week.

Time will tell when/if I can go longer.

I love getting old!

The Slow Road back

I went to my doctor yesterday for a follow-up on my hip/hamstring injury and he told me, "Now you know what we mean when we say 'hamstrung'"

In short, I jacked myself up pretty good at WS back in June and have developed pretty extensive tissue damage caused by years of bad form, over-doing it in training, and general stubbornness.  Now, I am working to get back at it in time to get ready for my WS build-up which typically begins in January. Like last year, it's gonna be close.  But, 35 miles per week at 8:45 pace never felt so good!

What 18 years of running ultras has taught me is that we really only have so many hard miles in our legs so we need to use them sparingly.  I used to run 4 100s a year without blinking an eye.  Now, just a few years later, one 100 a year is about all I can do.  But, at least I can do one!  I wouldn't trade running WS for just about anything in the world and my experience at WS 2013 was by best one yet.  With patience, fortitude, and a bit of stubborn resolve I look forward to making it back to Squaw for one last go at it next June.  I can tell you right now that if I do make it to that line it will be the highlight of my year.

You can follow that journey here!

AJW

A couple old-school bad asses

Last weekend Ann came back and ran a 100-miler in Idaho.  Can we get Kyle back?  He'd be quite welcome!

AJWs Blog 2.0

One of the reasons I discontinued this blog two years ago was due to frustration with the increasingly negative tone that the discussions were taking. However, over the past six months I have observed more negativity than ever on the ultrarunning interwebs and I have become frustrated. It is my hope that by resurrecting AJWs blog and writing occasional posts here (to complement my Friday column on irunfar) we can work together to heal some of the wounds that have emerged in the sport and grow together while maintaining the shared values that make us strong.

Craig Thornley wrote a nice piece this morning on his blog. 

http://conductthejuices.com/2013/09/04/meaningful-contributions/

And, the resurrection of AJWs Blog 2.0 would not be complete without a weekly poll.

Time to Blog Again

For a variety of reasons I've decided to resurrent my blog after a couple years off. I am still going to write AJWs Taproom every Friday on irunfar but I thought it would be fun to bring this old friend back.