New Year, New Decade, Let's Roll!

2019 Year in Review

Its that time of year again. 2019 was a solid year for myself as an ultrarunning dad. Thank my sponsors & supporters (see my Friends) as without their support I would not be able to do as much as I did in this sport. I am proud to represent Team TROT, rabbitELITEtrail, Team Victory, & Team Nathan. The biggest thanks goes to my family whom without this wound definitely not be possible at all. I love it when they are able to be there in person and cheer me on and crew & support me at ultras (Thank you to all 5 of my women in my life).

2020 Here I Come!

Well, honestly it's probably been solidified a few weeks or even months ago for most people, including myself. But the "lottery season" (i.e. December) was just upon us and probably currently underway for the last few like UTMB. Now that I have not been drawn for Western States I have my first 7 months lined up more or less. Here it is, my current 2020 race schedule thus far:

January

• Bandera 100 km (Bandera, TX)
• Since I didn't get into Western States I require another qualifier for 2020 season and what better way than getting it out of the way early.
• GOAL: Destroy my 2018 time of 13:36:21, hopefully sub-11 hrs in reality.

• Running the Rose 108 km (Tyler, TX)
• headed back to defend my victory from last year and because these trails are epic. 
• GOAL: of breaking the 11 hour mark. I was just over this last year.
• Love this course in the pine trees and cool January weather

February

• The Franklins 200 mi (El Paso, TX)
• headed back to El Paso because I have come to love this place to run here in Texas. I've run the Franklin Mountain race twice now and the Franklins 200 last year as well. I've put in ~300 miles so far on these Mountains....why not add another 203 or so?!
• GOAL: sub-60 hour. I have no idea if this is possible. If you read my race recap from last year everything basically went pretty dang good. So I have no idea if I can repeat last years time (64h & change) or effort. This is part of the exploration of the unknown.
• 2020 is the last year for this event. It is being replaced by something bigger (mileage wise) in 2021-Feb. Check out the TROT website for more details. Rob Goyen has already dropped hints of this on his monthly FB live updates and it now appears on the schedule (all the details are not fully finalized yet - but it is in the line up).

March

• Chattanooga 100 mi (Rising Fawn, GA)
• This will be my first Run Bum Tours (Sean Blanton) event, I've heard nothing but good things and can't wait for a race in another new state and area for me.
• GOAL: I have not researched into this too much, but my initial goal will be a top-10. I may revise my goal as I get closer and dive into the race stats & profile more.

April

• The Game - Backyard Ultra (Columbus, TX)
• I ran this last year and won this event in a weather filled day in Dale, TX. I made it 23 loops/hours before my assist dropped out. I anticipate more like 150 mi (36 hours) to even have a shot at the victory this time. Great event put on by Spectrum Trail Racing.
• GOAL: Win this event. Obtain the "golden coin" which gets an invite to Big's Backyard Ultra "Last Human Standing" in 2020-Oct.

July

• California Untamed 330 mi (Arcata, CA to Mt.Shasta, CA)
• Yes you read that correctly....330 miles of point-to-point.
• California Untamed is an extreme Ultra Marathon, stretching 330 miles from Arcata (the ocean) to Mt. Shasta in beautiful Northern California.  It is the longest, most extreme endurance foot race in the Continental United States.
• GOAL: Finish & be as competitive as I can be.
• This will be my A-race of the year. Everything prior to this will be building towards this, so I may even throw in extra training or racing efforts among the above mentioned races.
• Watch the preview film of the course HERE of race director Ryan Spitz forming the course.

Along with these I aim to get in some more volunteer hours in my running community:

• I help out at my local run club, Sugar Land Running Club (SLRC), since its inception in 2019-Aug and I definitely want to continue this each week when I can.
• Goal of getting more trail work hours logged for 2020 (not just the minimum for race entries).
• Help build the Trail Racing Over Texas (TROT) trail community by giving back more.

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Let the training begin!