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Life… you never know what its going to throw at you. But one thing is for certain. You can be sure its going to be loaded with obstacles. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Seriously, how many people would really chose an existence with no challenge, no work required. It sounds great at first, but then you start to think about it. Suddenly there is nothing to motivate, nothing to inspire, nothing to compel you. Sure, relaxing on a Caribbean beach, without a care in the world is great: For vacation. But then throw me back fire. I love challenge. Because it requires greatness to overcome. It pushes us forward, as individuals and as a society. We become stronger, faster, smarter, more resilient because of it. As tough, as painful as the hurdles we must clear can be… we know the reward waiting for us, both physically and mentally is worth it

Ask any marathoner. Running 26.2 miles is no joke. Thats why it’s called the marathon. The first guy that ran it, died right after he finished. So we willingly take up that challenge (theoretically with a bit more preparation than Pheidippides had) and suffer through 26.2 miles. But when we finish… wow when we finish! We are on top of the world. We’ve accomplished the seemingly impossible, conquered the vast distance, and ourselves. Some are content doing it once, proving to themselves that they have what it takes. Others, immediately start thinking about the next, bigger, challenge. It’s in our DNA to strive for greatness. Overcoming obstacles is what we are here to do

This weekend, I was looking forward to competing. I was registered for Soldier Rush and later Survival Beach. Both obstacle races in the area on Saturday. This is definitely outside of my comfort zone, and quite a challenge. I can run, but was I ready for the obstacles? I was going to push myself hard and see what I was capable of with the first. Then head to the next and do it all over again. One wasn’t enough. I like the challenge, the thrill of pushing my limits. The satisfaction of knowing I did my best is my reward. I don’t care about ‘winning’ the race (although its a nice bonus). I care about achieving what I am capable of, and in doing so enhancing what I am capable of for the next go round

Instead, this weekend I found myself doing something else that is hard wired into humanity: adapting. Life threw some different obstacles at me than I had hoped. Obstacles that derailed my short term plans (and hopefully will not impact my long term ones). Obstacles that were a lot heavier and more dangerous than the ‘fun’ ones at those races, but require even more strength and resilience to surmount. Instead of racing, I adapted, and kept my focus on recovery. Because as much as I like challenges, I prefer the kind that isn’t going to kill me, and will enhance my wellness. Ironman is still at the top of my bucket list, but it would be crazy to try one today. I’m not there… yet. I know this. I am human, and as much as challenges and adaptations are part of my DNA… I’ve also got a brain, whose job it is to keep me reasonable – and alive

So yes, I’m rolling with the punches. I’m finding ways to get past whatever life throws at me. There will be plenty of other obstacle races in the future. And whatever obstacles I stumble upon, I’ll keep finding ways to get past them. Somehow

So this weekend is kind of a big weekend in the South Florida running community. Yesterday was the tropical 5K (which my friend Bryan won in convincing fashion!). I missed that. Then 25,000 runners took to the streets in the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon this morning. I missed that too (for the first time in 3 years). There was also the Mayors Mile and 5K in Davie. Yeah, I wasn’t there either. And finally tomorrow, the Raven will be running for the 15,000th consecutive day. Quite a milestone, but I won’t be able to join him

You see, this weekend (and for the past five weeks and who knows how many more) I’m living through something else Miami is famous for: bad drivers and dangerous cycling conditions. Unfortunately my concussion symptoms significantly worsened over this past week. I spent Thursday in the ER. Thankfully my CT brain scan came back with no extremely serious diagnosis. But I do need to follow up with a neurologist, and a chiropractor, and, and, and…

That hit and run over a month ago, it was the Christmas gift that keeps giving (migraines). I hope, I really hope it won’t take too much longer to heal. In the meantime, my health and fitness goals… yeah, right! And you know, who really needs to make a living anyway? I rent my brain for a living (I’m an IT consultant, or at least *was* prior to that crash). The long term repercussions of that hit remain to be seen, but short term I haven’t been myself. I’m trying to stay positive here, but it certainly isn’t easy. This has devastated my physical health and my running (which effectively is my emotional health). But time heals right? I hope so. I need to get back out there. The road and the trails are calling my name. But for now you can find me in bed, dreaming about running

Wow it’s been an insane month! I nearly died a month ago today, and I’m still feeling the repercussions of that crash. My health has been a roller coaster. Some days I feel somewhat alive, others… yeah, not so much. I’ve kept running though, very slowly, but running all the same. As important as my physical health is, mental health is equally important. And running is critical to my mental health. So slowly, often very slowly I’ve been getting out there and putting one foot in front of the other. Most days that time was when I felt best. The majority of the rest of the day was spend in bed wishing I had the health to live life to the fullest

I had another great weekend planned with two potentially great races. First was the XTERRA Virginia Key 10K, then off to visit with my grandparents for the Naples Daily News Half Marathon. Neither went as planned. It took significantly longer for me to get to Virginia Key on Saturday morning. Miami Dade transit isn’t exactly an efficient means of travel. I really wish I had a bike to ride these days…

Anyway, I did eventually make it to the race (on time) and again due to my health had to consciously hold back. No ‘racing’, just running easy. Thankfully it was a very small race so I still had a shot of winning my age group. On a typical day I had no doubt I could run away with the overall here, but this was certainly not a typical day. Between holding back, and a little bit of a trail marking snafu I ended up near the back of the pack. I finished 10th – out of 12! I still won the age group since I was literally the only one in it! The trails were fun to run, quite interesting actually, as there were some obstacles in place for mountain bikes which provided a little bit of a challenge in a few places and certainly made for some abnormal terrain. Alls well that ends well, right? It was no where near my ideal time, but I still enjoyed myself (and managed to keep alive the shot at one XTERRA age group title)

Next, it was off to Naples. Or not… those county busses didn’t exactly get me where I needed to be in time to catch my Greyhound. So I spent the afternoon trying (and failing) to find a ride to Naples. This had been another race I really looked forward to. It’s a fast course. Originally I had been targeting a PR (and Boston [6:17/mi] pace). Now I was just going to run it for fun: just relax and enjoy the race atmosphere while hopefully finishing in sub 1:35/1:40 still. Plus it was a great excuse to visit with family. Well that clearly didn’t happen. I never made it to Naples… and the race never went off! Apparently, some downed power lines and storm debris forced them to cancel it that morning. So, I didn’t feel too bad about missing my ride out there, but I was still frustrated that the run never happened. So I just went for a run on South Beach instead

Unpredictable, chaotic and a total roller coaster ride: Yeah, thats life! Live it up, cause you never know what its going to throw at you next

I saw these videos the other day, and immediately thought of the resolutions I had set this year. One of my major goals is to enjoy nature more, not just get outside. I’m outside all the time. Biking to work (and trying not to get run over), walking or biking to run errands, etc. But there is a difference between being outside surrounded by steel and concrete, and being one with nature. The later is much more enjoyable

As I reflected on the two previous years, and the things that have made me happy recently (often despite some pretty crazy circumstances), it became pretty obvious. I rediscovered the love of running in Romania – running the Black Sea coast, the hills and forests of Transylvania, parks in Bucuresti, various countrysides and the shores of the Danube Delta. Then I came home and kept that going along the beach with Raven. Last year I had some pretty epic runs discovering caves in Bermuda, along Baltic Beaches at sunset and various other places. I ran my first couple trail races – and loved them. Running used to be my time to connect with myself, but this opened up a whole new world. Now when I run body and mind become one – with the world, not just with themselves. I get lost in the beauty of nature, and every step immerses me further

So I set goals with that in mind: To explore some of the national parks here at home in the US. So far I’ve only ever been to Everglades, and that very briefly. To go camping, to run more trails. To travel more for natural adventure and less for cities. To race more off-road. I even set the ambitious goal of winning my age group in TWO different XTERRA regions! FL would require a couple Tampa trips, and AZ is loaded with parks and natural splendor. This would be an fantastic year

Well, before it even started these goals all took a significant hit. A painful and nearly fatal hit. That mini cooper that hit me on Dec 17th did a whole lot more damage than I originally thought. I didn’t remember hitting my head, but when the headaches hadn’t gone away weeks later, I decided to take a look at my bike helmet. Sure enough: it was cracked right in the front, near where I had a small scratch on my face. Obviously I had hit my head, and blacked out briefly (long enough to not remember hitting my head). Obviously head trauma (and resulting concussion) was a significant result of this crash. Hopefully one that would eventually heal completely

I had been considering a couple races that first weekend of the year, but these were now no longer an option. Also at risk was my first planned trip (and milestone for that XTERRA goal). January 10 – XTERRA White Tanks 20K. I had been quite excited for this trip. Now it was questionable

In the end, I felt good enough (barely) to fly to AZ. I had to give myself conscious permission to not start the race, or not finish, if my body indicated that was appropriate. I also had to force myself to ease up, and not push too hard. I’m competitive when I race – that totally sucked! Knowing that I could, and normally would, be pushing harder and running faster… yet for reasons outside of my control having to tame myself… it put a major damper on the race. I still placed third in my age group, but unfortunately based on XTERRA scoring rules that eliminated me from contention for the AG regional title. I’m still glad I went (and likely will still go back for the series finale in March [health permitting]), but just like that one of my goals for the year was shot

I also had to ease up on everything else during the trip. Normally when I travel, I move at 1,000 miles a minute. Trying to fit in everything possible in. This time my agenda was sleep and rest as much as possible. So thank you to my host Tomer for putting up with that. Next time I’m out in AZ I’ll have to make up for lost time – and there most certainly will be a next time. Running those trails in Arizona was an incredible experience and was certainly a mental and emotional boost at a critical time. I can’t wait to go back and do it again when my health allows me to truly enjoy it

So take a moment and consider if Nature is right for you as well

Wow, what an adventure this past year has been!

While it both started and ended on very sour notes, overall I’d say it was an incredible year. I missed the first race I had planned to run (an early January 10K) due to ridiculous circumstances. Worse yet, that left me with a shoulder injury that slowed me down for the rest of the year (and still isn’t 100%)

Just when I was starting to think about finally working on upper body strength again… boom. Mini Cooper. Yes, that’s right a Mini Cooper. One that was flying down the road and rammed me from behind, then just kept going. Depending on your definition (I’m taking the glass half full approach here), I’m OK: I’m alive (statistically speaking I don’t think I should be). I can still run. I did unfortunately suffer some pretty significant financial losses and injuries (two weeks later and the headaches still won’t go away, among other things). It messed up my holiday travel plans and nixed my last two races of the year: a one mile open water swim and a 5K. And I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to do my next race in 10 days. But I digress. I can still run

As I said previously, this was a good year. Life is what you make it; what you dwell on. I chose to have a good year, and so despite several curve balls, it was exactly that. I ran, I was (and remain) extremely happy. This past year I focused on being happy, on enjoying myself every step of the way, being on top of the mental game. It’s amazing just how much the physical aspect falls in line after that, and so there were lot’s of fitness milestones this year:

• For the first time ever, I ran over 2500 miles for the year (2634 to be exact, which is just enough distance to cover Miami to the west coast). I also easily covered 1,000,000 meters during the summer. That’s the first time I did that since high school. Hey Now PREP! I think its safe to say I have my base back

• Of that mileage over 500 of it was barefoot on the beach. As far as I’m concerned barefoot beach running is the meaning of life. There will be a lot more of that in the upcoming years for sure

• I completed over a hundred runs with the legendary Raven this year (and 50 swims too). This was enough to earn me his “Swimmer of the Year” award

• Despite my continuing shoulder issues, I took to the water as well this summer. I did the ‘Bandit Kick’ for 20 miles since then. Yes, the Bandit Kick… I lay on my back and just keep kicking until I get where I want to go. Slow, but consistent progress. I wasn’t going to let some stupid injury get in the way of my goals

• I completed my first triathlon. Three actually, all about olympic distance. The first was actually an XTERRA off-road triathlon, and thus my first time (ever) mountain biking as well. I’m the last one out of the water, but, hey, I finish. That’s what counts

• Speaking of races, I completed my first (five actually) international races. January in Bermuda (1 mile, 10K and half marathon), and then in August half marathons in Latvia and Estonia. Overall, my running this year covered 11 states (racing in 10) and 13 different countries

• I’ve run in quite a few races this year, often placing in my age group and occasionally overall. I earned my first 5K, 10K and half marathon wins* and set PRs in every distance I raced (I still need a 5 miler and I know that if I actually raced a marathon I could blow away my first ever (and PR) of 3:23:32 from back in 2000). Notably, I finally beat that half marathon PR I set in the summer of ’98 – In Tartu, Estonia two days after my 35th birthday

• Most importantly, I had fun! 16 months ago I rediscovered the joy of running as I explored Romania, and for that reason alone this has been a good year. My heart, mind and soul lead the way on this journey and my body has learned to love going along for the ride. I am, and always will be, a runner

2016, I’m ready

Eventually I’ll get a blog going regularly.  In the meantime, you can read about my Boston 2013 experience here