Sometimes racing doesn't go as planned. Sometimes, it can be downright bad. That sums up my 2014 racing.

I started out the year coming off of a very solid fitness base from my Twin Cities Marathon training. I took more risks that day than my body could cash in, but there was no doubt that my fitness was there. Houston Marathon in January then was “playing safe” really. I just wanted to knock out another trials qualifier and then worry about PRs mixint it up again in races. I just missed the A qualifier by 42 seconds, what I call a positive frustration.

Brighton Marathon training really is where my 2014 training started up. I was running solid workouts and was doing them comfortably. Everything was great until I got sick the day I boarded the plane for the race. The next 9 hours in flight did me no favors. I raced AWEFULLY! It was one of those days where nothing was in the cards for me. I had a sinus infection, ear infection, and upper respiratory infection on race day that took a bout of antibiotics for my body to recover from. It was my first time to a doctor in 7 years.

Illness made it surprisingly difficuly for me to recover from Brighton. I felt terrible daily and it seemed like a downward spiral had begun. There was a point I couldn't run all-out 200s in 37 with full rest. No, I'm not imbellishing. It was that bad.

Just about the time Peachtree Road Race came along, I was getting my head back above water. Racing in that kind of shape might have been premature since I hadn't run workouts consistently since Brighton. The race was better than I thought it could be though and I decided to stay the course on racing the Bix 7 miler. That was also a flicker of hope with a fizzle at the end since my fitness wasn't up to par.

Then began fall marathon training. The New Haven Road Race is consistently one of my favorite races and I've run decent there more often than not. It generally can show where early marathon fitness is heading. I tanked! For that fact, the whole field did as Mother Nature dealt us a real bum card that day with heat and humidity. I couldn't hold marathon goal pace for 7 miles! The last 5 were worse than that!

After New Haven, I contemplated pulling out of Chicago. My training was inconsistent from mid-July on, since moving from Boulder to Colorado Springs. That move added another 1,000ft of altitude and worlds more hills to my training. Not only that, but my consistent loops and training partners weren't here either. It was a shock to my body and my pattern just when I didn't need anything else working against me. I told myself that if I could hit 2 weeks worth of workouts after New Haven, I'd just stay the course. Just then, training turned around completely. I started figuring out loops to run, people to run with, and how much more I'd need to adjust paces to keep efforts consistent at 6200ft versus 5200ft.

It almost seemed like things were coming together right around race day. My legs were feeling a lot less beaten up. My breathing finally felt comfortable again. I was ready to race, I thought. When the gun went off, I knew where I wanted to be. The goal was to hit the half at 66:30-45 and work together from there to 20 before it was every man for himself. I hit the first half perfectly! The next 5k, I slipped out of my rhythm and struggled the rest of the way home. I ran 2:18:04. I didn't even hit a B qualifying time for the trials on a course I've never failed on.

I've spent my time now being humbled. It's time to make the adjustments to my training that I should have 4 months ago when I first moved to Colorado Springs. I'm not letting my Garmin control as much of my training as I am letting my breathing and my legs control. I probably won't race until Houston half in January, at least not more than just locally. I finally took the break after Chicago that my body needed after Brighton...or even after Twin Cities last fall! Sometimes, a break from everything brings the mind to total clarity. For the first time in almost a year, I feel really excited every day when I run. I missed this and I hope I don't lose it again. From here, I can only expect that the positive energy I feel again will translate into results. Like anything else in life, there's no guarantee. At least now running is fun again, the way it should have always been.