Althea

What happens when ultra runners have to lay off their feet for a while? She happens.

Going from running +10hrs a week to the big goose egg (0)… well it has not been easy... my wife can contest to that. I don’t train like most folks.  I don’t base my mileage or training around race season. I just love to run year round. I love to run the same trails throughout the changing of the seasons because they turn into completely different trails! It’s amazing how that happens!

In my opinion… I’ve been handling the whole not running thing pretty well… I’ve still been on the trails, but it has been mostly hiking. And since *insert douchy voice* SPRING BREAK!!! is coming up soon… I have gotten back into a gym routine. Ok…  maybe my gym routine is not because of Spring Break. For the record… I DON’T do Spring Break. I never have, never will…unless… it will involve some sort of weeklong epic endurance adventure! Mostly I got back into a gym routine because of the Nulivscience sponsorship. I’ve been taking their plant based supplements for a little over 2 months now and have been happy with the results. I had been lacking motivation to get into the gym for strength training, but after partnering with these guys… I’ve been incorporating some much needed strength training into my life.

It hasn’t all been easy… there’s been a lot of complaining and self pity going on in my world. Kati mostly gets the bulk of it, but to keep it fair… I’ve made sure I’ve branched out to my closest friends too! You’re welcome guys! I can say though… the amount of support and advice I’ve received has been amazing! It has helped me stay focused and most importantly…stay positive! And Kati’s shown me some tough love… on days that I’ve been down and wanting to just come in from work, grab a beer, and slum around on the couch… she’s literally forced me out the door to go play. 

After a long week of being cooped up inside and at the gym… we enjoyed a relaxing Friday night with Owen and Sunny. It was a night filled with pizza, chocolate milk, hot tea, talk of bikes, adventures and other craziness. This left me anxiously waiting the bike shop’s call on Saturday. I was dying to be back on some single track moving at a good pace. Well… I got a call from Chuck and he was stranded at the mechanics shop while his car had work done. After a lovely morning of Dunkin Donuts and fabric shopping with the wifey… we swung by and picked him up. He bought us lunch before heading back to the house. After relaxing for a bit, we decided to get out and about. We swung by and picked up Althea and headed out to Oak Mt to hike. Chuck has been recovering from a broken foot so running would be kept at a minimum. We headed up to the falls to start our 6 mile loop.  

After a few hours of playing in the woods, I dropped Chuck off and headed home to get cleaned up. Then it was off to Tin Roof for a few drinks with the Crump brothers. Good People Brewing IPA and fun live music had me creeping into bed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay later than I’m used to.

I woke up Sunday to an absolute perfect weather day… blue skies… white clouds… breezy and 70degrees. Now of course that only meant that the days during the week would be dreary, cold, and freezing… but that’s Alabama winters for you. I had planned on taking full advantage of the day. I packed a cooler, my hydration vest, and headed to Oak Mt to meet up with the Crump Bros. After lounging lakeside and basking in sun's rays for an hour… it was time to ride. Stephen (Scrump) has a bike… his brother, Chris… well let’s just leave it at “I had a bad experience." We started off by doing a 5.5 mile loop around the lake. It felt wonderful flying down rolling single track again! Of course it’s not running… but I’m moving fast through the woods!! WIN!! We wrapped up the loop and headed back to our spot by the lake to let the girls hike and yes… I’m including Chris in with the females. When the ladies got back, we packed up and headed back to the car... but I wasn’t done.

I refilled my vest with the clean tasting, purified water from the OM beach bathroom sink before heading back onto the single track with Althea. It was late afternoon and most everyone was already off the trails and heading home to enjoy a relaxing Sunday night. Not me… no sir! I was just too excited to be back in the woods covering distance! I rode 6 miles before deciding to turn around and head back.  After throwing Althea into the back of the Element, I walked down to the beach area to say hey to a few friends.

Standing in the hot shower with a cold beer in my hand… I smiled. It felt good to have my thighs burning from climbing again… to feel the rush from swiftly moving through the forest... I felt alive again... I felt normal again. Being on the bike will never take the place of running. There is just something about running… it’s so primal… so original… it would be hard to replace that feeling of freedom… but Althea is close. I named my bike Althea which is a Greek name meaning  “healing.” I felt it was appropriate. I am extremely excited about the adventures I will share with her. I feel as though it will make me a better rounded athlete and make me appreciate running more. Maybe this “injury” was necessary… maybe it happened to open my eyes to a whole new world… a new fantastic point of view… whatever the meaning behind it is… I will continue showing you the world… shining, shimmering, splendid…

Oh and you're welcome. If you own the movie... Aladdin will probably be watched now... if not... enjoy "a whole new world" being stuck in your head for the next 3 days... 

Till tomorrow...