2022 in Review/Plans for 2023

Strava says I ran 1,934 miles in 2022. I wanted to step down a bit from my 2,650 miles in 2021, but not by that much. I got about the same vert that I usually get (300K) without really focusing on it. I was pretty happy with my running for most of the year. I set a marathon PR in December 2021 but as usual I did not really convert that into trail speed.

I ran these races in 2022:

January: Calico 50K

February: Sean O'Brien 100K

February: Yucca Valley 5K

April: Cherry Blossom 10-miler 

June: San Diego 100-miler

July: Standhope 100-miler

September: Tor des Geants 220-miler

November: Mountain Masochist 50K (50-miler DNF)

I did fine but not great at June and July 100's, and then I did quite well at Tor. It was an amazing experience, but it took a lot out of me. So much so that I didn't run for a solid month, and then when I tried to start up again a few weeks after that, I had to downgrade from the 50-mile to the 50K at Mountain Masochist in November. (I slept very poorly the night before in my hammock at the campground and may have had the very beginning of COVID, but I think I was just tired.) Because I switched from 50-miler to 50K after the start I technically DNF'd.

So a month off, a DNF, COVID, and too much travel for work, and it's now 2023.

January 1 Reno Resolution Run


Here's the plan for 2023:

February 18-19: Black Canyon 100K/60K double (Arizona)

March/April: Something in the woods in Tennessee (probably, I'm waitlisted)

May 6: Wild Wild West 50 Miler (Lone Pine, CA)

May 27-29: Western States Training Camp

June 24-25: Western States 100-miler (Sub-24 or bust! This is the highlight and my absolute focus.)

July 28-29: Crazy Mountains 100-miler (Montana--probably, I'm waitlisted)

August and September: I don't know yet. I need something else. Should I put in for the Superior lottery? Go back to Kodiak and do the full 100 miles? Dark Divide? Teenaway?

Oct 8: Chicago Marathon 

October 14: Euchre Bar Massacre 

By this point of the year I will almost certainly be tired of traveling, and if I run anything else it will probably depend on where I'm based at that time, which depends on how union negotiations over remote work. (If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, I'd guess I should be looking for races out east.)

What are you running in 2023, and how can I convince you to do one of these with me? Most importantly, to all my Californian friends, where will you be from 3AM to 4AM on Sunday June 25? If you said the Placer High track in Auburn cheering my to a sub-24 hour finish at Western States, that's the right answer.


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