Friends at Hardrock

If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the Gods. And the nights will flame with fire.

- Charles Bukowski

That is the quote and mantra I've adopted for for the Cactus Rose 100. Today I'm sending it out to my buddy John Sharp who embodies all those things. He is one of the toughest runners I know, and this weekend battled to mile 83 of the Hardrock 100 - one of the most difficult 100 mile races on the planet. It sweeps through the San Juan mountains in Colorado, and all takes place at altitude - the race has 33,000ft of climb and peaks at over 14,000ft. Yeah, that's crazy right?

John once told me that he learned more from the one race he didn't finish than from all the ones he did combined. I hope he looks back on his Hardrock experience with pride at what he achieved - I'm certainly in awe.

So here's to you John, and to all of my other friends who went to the mountains this weekend - I hope your recovery goes well and I can't wait to hear some of your stories.

As for me, I didn't run a single mile this weekend. I had planned on doing 25 miles of hills this morning, but Nancy was very restless last night. She swore it was nothing, but I didn't quite believe her and determined to keep an eye on her this morning. As much as my running is important to me, it's nowhere near the top of my priority list, especially now.

Instead I had a laid back morning with Nancy and Gavin - we went to the grocery store, had a nice breakfast, put up some stuff in Gavin's room and enjoyed watching the Tour de France. I also wanted to stock up on a few more technical running shirts. Oddly enough, I'd gotten my favorite all time running shirt at WalMart for $7 - and it beats all the expensive ones hands down. So we stopped in on our way to the grocery store and picked up a nice selection of four shirts for $6 apiece - they are very light, look good and wick really well. The moral of the story - if you're looking for some running shirts, you could do a lot worse than check out Wally World.

I spent the rest of the morning making big batches of pasta sauce, meatballs and banana bread. Best to be prepared in case I need something quick and easy later in the week.

Back to fitness stuff, the ankle flexibility exercises I've been doing have been paying big dividends. My ankles feel fantastic and they've also relieved a lot of soreness in my calves. Assuming nothing happens tomorrow (or today), I will make up for my lack of running with 10 miles of hill repeats at St Eds.

I will have my cell phone with me. Just in case.