CHUCKANUT 50K UPDATE

50K training continues to go well. Let me restate that: for me, it's going well. For the group as a whole, it's kind of the pits.

We lost another of our ranks this past week when Glenn G. pulled out b/c of various leg/hamstring whammies. The week before, we lost Paul R., who was hit by a van and suffered a concussion, broken scapula and some shoulder bone the name of which I’m pretty sure he made up. And the week before that, Christ F. tweaked her knee when she slipped on the ice somewhere in the frozen swampland of Lost Lake; I’m not sure right now what her status is. Though, knowing Christy, who once ran the Chicago Marathon with two torn hamstrings, we’ll see her at the starting line of mid-March’s Chuckanut 50K (http://www.gbrc.net/chuckanut50k.php) loaded for bear. Then there are the others—Rick H., Lora O., Carol B., Del N., Rebecca W., Polly F.—who never really started training because of one injury or another. (Or lack of interest).

So it’s down to John C., Scott Y., John S. and myself. No one else goes down. Hear that, everyone? No one else goes down.

I didn’t think I’d be running the race this year; this was going to be my bike race year. (It still is.) But this winter, the weather has been so harsh—snow followed by Artic blasts, which freeze the roads for a week—that riding has been too hazardous. So I started running with the Sunday group to build my base and before I know it, I’ve got seven three-plus hour runs in, including a couple four-hours, all significantly faster than I’ve run them in the past and well, right now, I’m kinda trail-running obsessed once again. Especially since I’ve added an iPod to my training which adds a whole new element. A boost. A testosterone blast to the ears, as it were.

I’m not a huge fan of all of the groups who originated these tunes, but for pure power, here are my current 10 favorite songs to run to:
“Enter Sandman”
“Sweet Child o’ Mine”
“Back in Black”
“Tumbling Dice” (I am a huge Stones fan.)
“Lounge Act” (IAAH Nirvana fan.)
“Nearly Lost You”
“What Difference Does it Make?”
“Clocks”
“Born to Run” (IAAH Springsteen fan)
“Blue Monday” (New Order)