Upcoming Holiday Lake

      This weekend I will be taking a stab at my second ultra marathon.  The first one was brutal but most would say it was a success, as I was able to start out my ultra career with a win.  Luckily this one is suppose to be way easier then the Promis Land 50k was.  Kalib Wilkinson and I went out to preview the course last weekend and to our suprise it was just as everyone said relatively flat.  We had been holding our breath because flat to most ultra marathon runners is not exactly what the common person would percieve as flat.  Although it was a bit muddy the trail were in good shape and there was even a decent amount of the course on dirt roads and jeap trails.

      The run ended up being 2 hours and 25 minutes, we estimated approximately 22+ miles.  We got a little confused and ended up running off the course loop a little and added about a mile to the two loop course.  There are going to be some hills in the first 4 miles and last 4 to contend with but other then that you can run the whole course at a pretty good clip.  It was cool misty morning, perfect for a long run.  We took it easy for the first few miles and the run was pretty modest all together.  We really enjoyed the course, and talked alot about the perks of ultra running.  The beauty that you get to intake, you end up running in places that most people will never see or would be able to get to except by running.  The ultra community and enviroment is so fun and relaxed.  Its always an enjoyable enviroment to be in, which is crazy to think since you are about to put you body through torture. Almost everyone who partakes does it for the love of running which makes it so much more enjoyable.



Lots of training w/ this guy not enough racing!



      Running along the backside of the CTT trail it just came to me how blessed we are to have the ability we do to run.  It felt so freeing and thinking back to injuries, struggles, and very other trials I have come through I realized I don't want to take this for granted.  I want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons and my mind isn't on the monetary benefit or anything prideful but my focus is simply on enjoyment and glorifying Him.  John Piper wrote an amazing book that has deeply impacted my life and one of his great quotes I love is "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever".  I can't think of a better way to glorify and enjoy him then in an ultra marathon intake his beautiful creation and embracing his power and strength working through us as we use our bodies as a living sacrifice pressing, as Paul says running in such a way as to recieve the prize.  The incredible thing about running is there is always a prize for everyone in all ability levels to run for, there is always that new PR to set, that new distance to conquer, and for some it might be to litterally win the race.  But the beauty is since we are all running for a purpose and a goal it brings us together and unites us to encourage one another, which is what I love most about ultra running.  The community is what makes the sport and I can't wait be apart of that experience again this saturday morning!