2024 - New Heights, New Distances, and More Friends
“One foot in front of the other. Repeat as often as necessary to finish.”— Haruki Murakami
2024! All I can really say is wow! What a year! I knew going in that I would have to hit the ground running if I was going to reach my goals.
2024 was the year I finally would take on the Tahoe 200. After the postponement and aborted training cycle in 2023, it was time to take my training to new heights if I was going to survive this event.
The year began with a 50 mile run starting at 2am on new year's day. Special thanks to Dave for starting with me and everyone else that joined in over parts of the run. I didn't slow down much for the rest of month either, completing 112 miles that first week and two more 100+ mile weeks for a total of 396 miles; the most ever in a month.
February was also our first big family trip of the year. We visited Sedona, the Grand Canyon (where I got in a quick run down to the river and back) and Petrified Forest National Park.
March is when it got real. I started the month off with a marathon and then followed it with two more 20+ mile days. I capped the month off with my first test, The Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker, a 53 mile race with over 11,000' of climbing. I finished the month at 464 miles; 70 more than I had ever run in a month before.
April and May were more of the same; big weeks, lots of back to back and back to back to back long runs. I think the run on April 6th says it all, "Squish - Trying to do it all. 4am wake up, 15 miles, breakfast for Nat, me, Neil, drop offs, Museum of Science field trip, work for 4 hours, 11 more miles."
After a few more big weeks it was go time. Would I be able to complete a 200 mile mountain race? See The Tahoe 200 - A Recap and Reflections to find out more. Huge thank you to my family and crew that came out and supported me during the race. It means more to me than you could ever imagine.
The Long Road Back
After Tahoe, I was forced to back off. I had just put my body through the most intense training and racing cycle ever and needed to heal. While my fatigue level dissipated pretty quickly, it took months for the musculoskeletal damage to heal and even required seeing a physical therapist. See The Long Road Back for more.
The NH 48
This year I finally completed the NH 48, 4000' peaks. I had 4 peaks (Carrigain, Waumbek, Cabot, and Isolation) which would take 4 separate days.
On September 15th, Keith and I finished my final peak, Isolation. For more details, see the full write up The NH 48 4000' Mountains.
By the Numbers
- Races: 8, 210 Miles, 53 Miles, 50k, Marathon and some short stuff
- NH 4000 footers: 4 new, 48 / 48.
- Longest run: 210 Miles (Tahoe)
- Miles Run: 4120 (320 more than any other year)
- Time Running: 641 hours (92 more than last year)
- Climbing: 286k' (Most ever in a year by 36k')
- 11th consecutive year of running every day
- 10th consecutive year of running my age on my birthday
- Total Streak Miles: 35,738
- Total Miles Tracked: 41,492
How Far Did I Get
With such a big year, I made it all the way to the Island of Sardinia, which is known for its pristine, clear turquoise waters and beautiful white sandy beaches. This sounds quite lovely as I write this post on a morning that began with a 7 degree run.
A Look back
2024 really was the tale of 2 chapters. There was the all consuming Tahoe build up and race followed by the inevitable post race let down. While I really enjoyed the training and taking my running to new heights, it was incredibly hard on the body. My energy levels returned quickly, but finding my groove again proved significantly more difficult then I had expected.
Post Tahoe, I was able to get my mileage back up to roughly where it has been the last few years, but have yet to regain my top end speed and often feel clunky at times. I am still optimistic that it will come. Patience is not something that I am good with.
Similar to the past couple of years, our hearty group of runners we call the Belmont Track Club has both grown and become even tighter nit. It warms the heart when so many folks come out for one of my silly milestone runs.
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| 12-20-24 - 4000 Miles on the Year |
2025 is still a work in progress. So far, I am signed up for a Marathon on Madeira Island in April and 100k at Bear Lake in California in October. We also are in the process of planning a trip to Joshua Tree National park in February.
The first goal of 2025 is to find my mojo. From there, I guess we will just see where it goes.
- Scot
I leave you with some of my favorite photos from 2024.
Drinks with Steve and Lisa at midnight post 10 mile trail run that was part of a 35 mile day
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| The Tahoe 200 Finish Line |
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