Whirlwind

Wow, trips over but we've just entered the halfway mark in the last push of the race calendar before the big month off from running. Now comes the hard part. I've got a 50 miler next weekend that I decided it would be a good idea to do the week after worlds. Of course this was before I knew if I'd made it to worlds. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to it. Scared to death, but looking forward to it. Why? I'm not sure. It's something new, I've never done something like this before. I like the unknown. People have been asking me why I'm doing that and I haven't come up with a good answer but I think that's what it is. It's a new adventure. I'm bored with what I know. I've done the roads, track, xc and now I'd like to take my running to another realm that I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing. And it is pleasure, I truly enjoy the run, the journey, as much as I do the competition. The 50 miler's a whole new ball game. Could go well, could go up in flames or maybe not so dramatic. Either way, I'm afraid of it. It's going to hurt and that's forced me to plan more than I've had to for a race in awhile. That planning forces me to be more invested in it too. It's a good feeling. I like a good adventure. I need to do this more often.  So, on to something new. 

April 11th is Pear Blossom 10 miler in Medford. If I can walk then that's the plan.  Most of you that read this may know what Pear is but it's a special race for me. The hometown race. I've been doing this race since high school. Several of my old teachers from middle and high school still put the race on and it has become a tradition for me and a connection to where I've come from. It's one of my favorites in my race calendar and if at all possible won't miss it for anything. It's not your typical weekend annual Fourth of July 5k that a few people come out for. The Pear is the largest running (possibly just the largest sporting event but I don't want to label it falsely) event in the Rogue Valley and is an integral part of the Pear Blossom Festival with Parade, Pageants, and other events. It attracts over 1000 people to the 10 mile run plus another 500 or so for the 5k and 1 mile walk. It gets coverage on the front page of the newspaper sports section for two days in a row and all the local news channels as well. How many local races can claim the kind of community intimacy that the Pear attracts? That's why I love it and look forward to it every year. I don't know if this is common in the ranks of the elite but this is how I stay grounded and connected. It's important for me to have something to come back to. Part of my past, call me sentimental. There are other reasons to run races than competition and prize money. I feel like it's something we've gotten away from. The 70's and 80's when runners like Bill Rogers and Frank Shorter would show up to small town road races. Maybe they were there for the prize money but I'd like to think it was more than that, just the thrill of a race and the joy of camaraderie. In 1980, Frank Shorter won the Pear. There's still no prize money.