It has been too long since I have updated you.  I would like to say I have been busy (which I have), but mainly it is my self- pity, avoidance behaviour that has kept me from writing this post; one that I have dreaded for weeks.

I will not be racing Primal Quest 2009.

Since I was here last, I have travelled to Belgrade, Serbia for work and timed a personal best on the 10K (54:12) while also training hard with my weighted pack on steep hills.  Upon my arrival back to Amsterdam, I jumped a flight to Geneva, Switzerland in order to compete in the Solomon Endurance Mountain Cross in Chamonix, France; a race that challenged my physical endurance under sleep deprived conditions.

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The Little Things in Life

It’s been a few weeks since I played Dutch pinball.  The break in my clavicle is healing rather nicely, so I started with a sports physiotherapist last week.  Now this is my first interaction with physiotherapy and after my under-whelming Emergency Department experience with the Dutch healthcare system, I truly didn’t know what to expect.

Firstly, the location struck me as odd.  It is located on the third floor of a well preserved building dating back to the 1800′s.  I have never been one to complain about climbing stairs, but when you have appointment with a physiotherapist you would think that an elevator would be more appropriate for the gimps who bust their legs, hip, back, or anything else that requires lower body effort.  Nope, not in Holland.  Getting up the stairs is, apparently, part of your therapy.  Is it just me, or does this seem odd?

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After last weeks little pity party, I decided to dig a little deeper into what should be expected of me in my training around this time.  I searched some data that my team captain sent and found a training program aimed for those beginners who want to train for a marathon.  Now one great thing about this blog is that so many people have taken the time to put in their very welcomed two cents into how I should be approaching this race, so I haven’t been left wanting for advice.

One of my fellow racers in the Wicked AR series (based in Portland, Oregon) said that I should find the time to spend as much time on my feet as I can.  He told me that I should be looking into specific training for a marathon length race and so I did just that.  Kim Dunkin (team captain) had sent me a plethora of information when she told me I was going to race and I have to admit…I never looked at it.  I know, I know…I have been sitting here all this time wondering (read whining) where I should be in my training and all this time it has been gathering dust one megabyte at a time.  One good thing is that I still have time; it is a 16 week training program.  So far, so good.

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I got an email from my team captain last week that casually reminded me that we only have 20 more weeks of training till the start of PQ.  My face got long, my feet felt like lead, a sinking feeling settled inside of me as a glimmer of panic raced across my mind.  I am half way there.

You see, alongside the decision to make good on my promise to myself to compete in Primal Quest came the commitment to train for it as well.  That was 42 weeks ago.  The reason for the panic is that Kim reminded me that I am half way through the time I have given myself to prepare for this experience and needless to say, I don’t feel prepared at all.  In fact, I can honestly say I am feeling a bit frantic.

I just see that these past thirty days or so haven’t been very productive for me when it comes to training.  I came out of the box with my feet on fire in January and then February came along with its fair share of setbacks.  Now, I know that overcoming obstacles can technically be considered part of “training”, but hell, I have been doing that all my life.  That is not the part that concerns me.  I am talking about the physical part.

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It has always amazed me at how quickly my body can get used to being lazy.  It has been officially a month since the injury to my right ankle, albeit only two weeks since I saw the doctor.  Now in my PQ obsessed mind, when he said to give it a month of rest, I surmised that he meant since the injury, not from when I saw him.  At least that is how I am justifying the level of soreness I have impressed upon myself in the last week.

I can just hear some of you now, “Now Todd, as a medical person, you should know better than to push yourself so hard so fast.” I hear you loud and clear because it is the same thing I have been telling myself all week.  I was once a hardcore gym rat for many years and so I am pretty in tune with the level of punishment my body is willing to withstand.  I have suffered injuries and have worked through them.  The only problem now is that I am having to train much differently than the days when size was everything.

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I have been to Crater Lake National Park several times, but never in the winter time. It has always been on my “list” of places to go and things to do here in my home state of Oregon. As usual, I have to take things just one step further; I have always wanted to snowshoe around its entire 37 mile (60 km) length in the winter time. Now keeping in mind that Crater Lake gets, on average, 44 feet ( 13.4 meters) of snow each year, I knew this was not going to be easy; especially with a bum foot.

I loaded up the car with the necessary goodies, including excellent company in the form of my friend Michelle. Now, Michelle is from Australia and has never seen the magnitude of 44 feet of snow. Well, maybe she has, but just not piled up all at once in one place as beautiful as Crater Lake. I think nothing is more fun than seeing something familiar through the eyes of others. I was not disappointed. Now, just so I don’t embarrass her, we will just say she was excited; very excited. Like “new toy at Christmas” excited. Like “Jack Russell terrier” excited. Like “pull over I think I am going to pee my pants” excited. What surprised me most was not that she was so excited, but by what she was so giddy about. I expected the grandeur of an imploded volcano, beautiful scenery, lots of snow, or maybe even the company she kept would be the source of her effluence. As with many things in life, I was mistaken.

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