I have not posted in quite a long time! Major changes happened in my family since my last post in May 2016. I retired from the Metropolitan Transit system in San Antonio Tx. in May 2016 after 30 years. It was a great place to work, I loved it. 12 years in Warehousing/Inventory control and 18 in Information Technology. It was time to go though but I did not want to stop working, so I went to work for the San Antonio Police department in Fleet Management.. That was fun and very interesting. I made many good friends. Cops are people just like you and me. I heard many stories from policemen who joined the force to help others. One story that really touched my heart was a cop who struggled as a child of a single parent. He talked about his life moving from home to home, abusive stepdad, going hungry. Now he wanted to help kids and families who may be struggling.
This brings me to my family. My wife and I were faced with a life changing decision in late 2016. Our three grandkids, ages 2 months, 1 yr. old and three years old needed us! Without going into details, we brought them in to our home and eventually adopted them in 2018. Of course this turned our lives upside down. Diapers! Sleepless nights, runny noses, daycare! Of course this threw my running routine into a loop. Between the bickering, crying, finger pointing and non stop talking, the kids are wonderful. With the oldest grandkid now in third grade and the middle one in kindergarten, I was forced to leave my job with the PD three months ago to help the kids with virtual learning. The third grader is the reason I decided to come back to this blog. He has to write a personal narrative. I showed him mine. "you write long stories." he said.
Back to 2016 and running.
The wheels really started to fall off in 2013. That year I was 55 years old and was running well at the beginning of the year but I ran too much and too fast. For me. In the first six months of that year I set my marathon PR in Austin, 3:40:00, ran a very tough Possum kingdom 55K, ran a difficult and technical, beautiful, mountain 50K in Colorado and crewed and paced my great friend Lalo 25 miles at the Angeles Crest 100. After that I was out of gas but in denial. Maybe I did not want to adjust my training. Maybe I wanted to rely on the strength I thought I still had. I was never a fast runner but I held my own in the middle of the pack and usually placed in my age group. But I was done. Cooked. I kept running and struggled to complete races.
In what has been my last attempt at an ultra I registered for the July 2016 Never Summer100K in the Mountains of northern Colorado. If you love running as I do, you will never quit.
It has been four years. I will try to remember my attempt at the Never Summer 100K. I flew up to Denver and met up with friends for the ride to Gould Co. Gould is a very, very small town. As I remember there was not even a traffic light. Just a sign marking the city limits. We checked in to our cabin at a campground about 2 miles from the start of the race at the community center (a barn like structure). Having stopped to check out sights along our drive from Denver we arrived late the day before the race. 10 miles down the road was a town whos name I forget but a little bit larger than Gould. It had three traffic lights! Our visit to the grocery store there proved futile, all produce and snack food was gone. My friend Rachel and I chatted with the store clerks. Across the street we stepped in to an adult beverage store to buy some post race refreshments. Chatting with the clerk there I got a sense that some folks who live in this area have left a past they are trying to forget.
At the start the friends from San Antonio got together for a photo. 
left to right. Jason, "The Hawk" and me in the forefront, Brian (red visor, lowered head), Chris and Ash center rear. Not sure where Rachel was or who the guy in the upper right of this photo is.
The race starts at an elevation of 9000 feet and heads up a dirt rocky road. We climbed up the mountain and soon came to a clearing and beautiful majestic views.
The trail at this point was nice smooth single track. We crossed many streams and came to serene alpine lakes. The steepest climb was to the highest point of the race at 12,840 feet. On this climb there was no trail! The markers took us straight up the mountain. At one point I thought I would fall back. Thankfully I had my trekking poles with me. Going up I saw a marmot just sitting by a small bush about 4 feet from me. He just watch as I hiked by him. At the top of the mountain four of us took a photo.
Late in the day Ash and I were together rounding a mountain when my foot caught a root and I went down hard with no time to reach out and try to break my fall. I was hurt pretty bad. Ash is a doctor and asked me if I was ok. He advised me to get up slowly and catch my breath. I was good to go. A bit later the trail took us over a long patch of big jagged rocks and boulders. There was no trail here. We had to be careful with our foot placement for fear of turning an ankle. The only good part of this was the beautiful lake to our left. I was glad to get over this portion of the course.
As evening set in the temperature was dropping fast. I found myself trying to warm up with the hot soup at the 44 mile aid station well after dark. Ash was there too. Ash's dad was crewing for him and was there also . I changed my socks and left the aid station with thoughts of my jacket in my drop bag at the next aid station. I left before Ash thinking he would catch up with me. I was tiring and thought for sure he was feeling stronger than me. To this day I wish I had waited for Ash.
About 50 yards down the road from the aid station the course turned left in to a brushy area. Up ahead I could see a couple of head lamps slowly drifting away. Soon I was climbing on a smooth trail. I was moving very slow at this point when I heard an animal sound off in the distance to my right. Then I heard a similar sound to my left. Hmm, I thought. That is not a cow. It's not a cat because it was more like a long grunt. I kept hearing this for the next hour. the sound started to sound clearer and closer. What could it be? I came to a clearing on what seemed like a hilltop where the trail turned around the hill to the left with a slight drop off into a field. suddenly I heard the grunt very close! I turned to my right and my headlamp revealed a MOOSE! No Antlers but she was huge and only about 25 yards from me. I yelled out loud "Oh C&@P!" I wanted to run but I picked up my walking pace and was yelling "Leave me alone moose, Leave me alone."
The trail then lead back in to the woods and the moose left me alone. I was tired and I was cold. It was very dark in the woods. I could not see or hear any other people on the course. Then after a long climb the trail spilled out into a dirt road and I could make out the faint sound of people talking. I saw light about a third of a mile down the road. My elation in hearing the signs and sounds of the aid station was interrupted by a small dark animal running right at me! It was so fast I could not make it out nor could I aim my headlamp at it. It wasn't a raccoon. It was bigger. It almost hit me as it ran by my right leg. Then, a very strong musky odor filled the air. Another "Oh C$@P!" Bear? Was the small animal a cub? Bear prey? I don't know but thank god I made it to the aid station.
At the aid station I was very tired and beat, cold, and now spooked. The jacket in my drop bag was too thin. It and the coffee at the aid station could not get me warm and now at 10 PM the temps were dropping even more. I decided to call it a day. DNF. I was ok with it. As my friend and race director Joe Prusaitus once said, "It's only a freaking run!"
The sag wagon showed up and took six of us back to the start/finish. Ash would drop too. After trying to sleep in the car for a couple of hours I went to the community center to look for my friends. When I explained that I Did Not Finish one of my friends said, "Oh, I'm sorry."
I am not, I thought. I had fun. It was a beautiful tough course. I am alive, and I saw a Moose!
I have run a few races since Never Summer. Short distances. 10K, 10 milers, and half Marathons. I have contemplated giving up running and maybe go to cycling. But nah, I love running too much.
The kids are more manageable now which equals a little more time. I am older and wiser about running and recovery. I have gotten over my pace slowing and run distance shortening.
Yesterday I registered for a road half marathon in the Texas hill country on October 17th! Next to trails I love running on country roads. I'll be back with that story.
