YAU Good Luck 2013 Racers

At 10:30AM PST the Yukon Arctic Ultra race begins from Whitehorse, Yukon Canada.  There are about 75 competitors that will be racing across various distances, 26.2, 100, 320 and 430 miles.  While I trained very hard for this race, invested about $3,500 in new gear, bought plane tickets, etc. I will be on the sidelines with a bum hamstring.  Three weeks ago yesterday I tore my lower right outside hamstring playing in a game of basketball after a long run at the gym.  A very stupid move.  As a result I've been slowly rehabbing the hamstring, making it only occasionally to the gym for strength training, core, swimming and stretching.

The Winter Death Race in Pittsfield, VT is also going on this weekend.  About 60 racers, or so, all started on Friday and as of 5AM CST today there are still 7 competitors left in the race. That race is a total "beat down" session.  I've been getting updates via Facebook and watching them suffer in the cold water, doing those damn burpees, puzzles, hauling shit, chopping wood and running the mountain over and over and over again.   Before the start of the race, time had washed away the post race sentiments that I had after completing the race last year.  Needless to say, they weren't good, however time has a funny way of replacing those memories with nostalgic feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.  It's the latter feelings that are a emotional trojan horse that lures you back into wanting to do the race again.  As I sit here in the early morning hours, drinking my coffee, in front of a nice fire I can honestly say...I am so happy that I didn't do that race.  It has tired me out just watching the updates over the last 2 days.  The competitors that attempt that race and actually finish are tough tough tough cats.  They were just told that they had to complete a "final" 3 laps up and around the mountain in under a certain amount of time.  What the athletes have going in their favor right now is the clock.  The sun has just risen and the energy that it provides is hard to explain.  For the remaining competitors this is a plus.  There is something about light that provides hope....and the opposite for darkness.  With any luck Andy Weinberg will tire as well and end the race.  These 7 people are tough and deserve the elusive skull.   My WDR skull sits in my office as a reminder that perseverance is the so simple difference between success and failure.

For the next 12 days I'll be watching the YAU competitors slowly make their way across the icy cold tundra of the Yukon territory.  Each one has a "SPOT" device that tracks them and their progress.  I am supremely bummed out that I am not up there competing in the race.  I've got some work to do with my hamstring and sciatic nerve on my right leg/hip.  The Preamble to the YAU is the 1,000 mile Yukon Ultra Sled Dog Race that started yesterday from Whitehorse.  Now I must say that I really have no desire to race with sled dogs across the Arctic.   I'm wishing all of the competitors the very best!!

In 65 days I am racing against Timmy at the Leadman in Phoenix, AZ on April 14,15 2013.  It will be hard to get my hamstring totally rehabbed by then, but I need to push to get back to racing condition.   It is going to require a lot of work and I'm thinking that I take it slow and use my first couple of races to build a solid base as I approach IM Lake Placid and maybe the Summer Death Race...maybe.

Lot's of training ahead.....Cheers!