The Word is OUI!

The email said "You were more than 30,000 😍 to have entered the draw for the 90km, 42km, 23km and Star Duo of the 2025 Mont Blanc Marathon. Check the results now on our website." 

It took 20 minutes to track it all down, and most applicants received a NO, but finally the answer was: OUI! I'm in the Mont Blanc 23k at the end of June in 2025!!!

I've been trying to get in this thing for six years and each time missed out. This year, I adopted a new strategy: swing for the base hit. SO, instead of the 42km marathon, I entered the drawing for the 23k trek in the Alps.

Very exciting.

Other than that, what else is going on? Miles.

The seven weeks since the last offering of this blog has seen the following mileage totals: 41, 40, 38, 42, 45, 27 (took two days off that week) and 47. The goal is to continue gradually increasing the volume to where 45 is a low mileage week.

The KNEE? Well, it's not like it is magically been cured. There are basically two kinds of days: bad ones and decent ones. The biggest difference from a year ago is that the decent ones far outnumber the bad ones. The plan is to continue to shed pounds and eventually get to a point where I can try some things like gel injections. Just from the 30 pounds I've lost this year, I already see an improvement. 30 more and it should be even better.

Oh WAIT! He raced again????? Uh, yes "he"/me did. Shortly after my last post I ran the Indian Creek 5 mile trail race near Sedalia. While it was named a 5 mile, it was explained that it was actually a 5.7, and my watch said 5.96. So, whatever.

The Race Director yelled GOOOO at 8 am and we (about 50-60 of us) were off alongside the 15 mile racers. The first mile (roughly) was uphill singletrack followed by a steeper fire road. When we separated, us fivers moved to the narrow trail in the woods.... Gorgeous.

By this time I was firmly situated at the back of the pack. There might have been a family with little kids behind me and maybe someone else. The course was up the hill, downhill through the woods and back to the start line and then reversed. So on the way back, the almost two miles through the woods was pretty much all uphill, and what those people didn't know was that "I like me some uphill."

One by one I moved past the "I went out too fast" masses. At the top of the hill, after passing a younger couple, I did something I rarely do anymore, I opened it up a bit. It was fun!

Upon hitting the finish line, I discovered that I had passed a dozen or so fellow trail runners and had gapped the closest person by over a minute coming down. All in all, a nice morning in the mountains.

ALSO: Registered by the family for the Denver Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, and also have myself in the ColderBolder 5K in December. Then, we'll see. Maybe a trail/mountain race; something with elevation gain. There's going to be plenty in the Alps.

Mileage-wise almost at 1600 for the year and it looks like I'll see 1800 by New Years Eve. That's not too shabby considering that in the first three months I had, like, 320. So, nice recovery. Next year we'll try to get back to 2000.

On the whole, all is pretty okay. What about you?

Run on! OUI!