Resuming ultra-training! (And the beginning of grad school!)

I have decided that the 'official' training for Superior 50 mile slated for September of this year has begun. While I have not been doing ANY (gasp) racing this year at all (thanks to grad school) I have been 'thinking' a lot about it and more specifically my approach, which will be three fold as described on my training page which can also be found on this blog. On that page I talk a little about how I handled the training for this race last year, which paid off very well. With a few tweeks I am certain of another fantastic race, and am actually even gunning for a PR :) guess time will tell!
I started grad school this summer (always the 'go-getter!') in order to have less classes in the fall which enables me to work more. My time spent working at Stephen Perry Smith Architects has been just fantastic. I absolutely love the firm and the team we have there and am honored to have a mentor such as Stephen Smith as not only an employer but also as a great friend. It is always amazing to me how when you are going in the right direction, things really do seem to fall together. HINT: If you are experiencing endless drama and troubles in your life, something is WRONG. Life should not be that hard or miserable, and if you are experiencing both then it is time to take serious inventory and perhaps some hard life choices.
I had to do this, and most successful/happy/healthy people have as well. Every single truly interesting person I have ever met has overcome some hard obstacle in their life, and it has been that obstacle that has made them who they are today!

Grad school has been comprised of learning structural analysis so far, not necessarily the most interesting thing in the world but certainly very useful in helping to design truss systems and deal with design issues on a particular site or custom design desire. I will never look at an arch again the same. Good stuff for us young aspiring architects... I love learning about architecture and then running long in the woods on a Saturday afternoon and just thinking about how these things all come together... the balance of the gravity loads on the truss, and the balance of the ecosystems in the woods. Wonderful thoughts on longer runs... these things keep me going, keep life interesting. The real trick for me is learning to balance what you need to know, with what you don't. What you need to have, with what you don't. Keep it minimal, leave room for growth. The game of life is ongoing and wonderful, and there are miles and miles to go...

Stay motivated, stay in the game.