Single track savage

      Aslinger 2023 was a special race for me.  It started like most of my races do with not much forethought and a signup.  This year turned out to be different though.       I want to start by thanking a few people.  There are many friends and family that came out and supported me.  I want you all to know I love and appreciate you all, but  Marcy Ambler needs special recognition. Marcy made months of sacrifice for me to train. She worked all day Friday, came and crewed for 24 hours, then packed it all up while being so tired and cold she could hardly stand.  Marcy pushed me when I needed it and enlisted others to push me.  She kept me taking down nutrition even when I didn't feel like it and was struggling. Marcy walked with me and just kept me moving. At the end she told me the math and if I would run I could hit my PR.  She did everything right to get me to the end and pushing my body farther than ever before.      Flashback several months.  It has been a few years since I real

       Marcy and I decided to put on a few races in 2021.  It has turned out to be quite and undertaking! It has also been a walk down memory lane.  I have had to go back through old pictures looking for shots to add to web pages, race forms, and on-line sign ups.  It brings up the question, is running really a solo adventure?  I always sort of leaned to a slightly self absorbed view that it was about me, but looking through pictures I just don't see many without loved ones or friends.      Marcy got me started running a few years ago. We have been in sooooo many races together.  I didn't realize it until looking through the pictures.  We have crewed for each other on multiple ultra events and run a ton of races together.  I have to say that if you make it through crewing for a cranky (me not Marcy) 100 mile runner you can stick with them through anything! I wouldn't trade any of the race experiences with her for anything.  When I got a little faster and set some goals past

January 2020 I decided to try 23andMe for general curiosity and to use the raw data for workout and diet tweaking.  Little did I know it would take me down a path of self discovery!  I signed up and found out some cool things like - I have a little Nigerian (wished it was Keynan), I'm pretty much white from Europe (who'd have figured right?), and I have more Neanderthal DNA than 26% of the other 23andMe users. For folks that haven't done this I will explain a little more about the process.  You sign up, spit into a container, mail it back, then in a week or two you get the results.  In the mean time you start getting requests to fill out questionnaires on line.  It was one of these that change my life.   One simple question........  Do you have  Aphantasia, the inability to visualize?   It's kinda crazy to think that one sentence can bring so much into light for a person.  I'm sitting there 49 years old having never actually visualized anything and assuming everyone

     Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack followed by groan grumble grumble followed by a hand patting the night stand looking for the evil device pretending to be a duck at 4:00 AM Saturday morning.  I think to myself 'why do I do this?'.  With a cough and a sniffle I ease out of bed onto my feet padding lightly across the bedroom floor on tendinitis ravaged achilles.  I hear Marcy stirring as I start downstairs to make some breakfast for us and start getting ready.  A few minutes later Marcy joins me to eat some eggs and start packing our gear in the truck to head over to Vienna IL.  She is coughing and hacking, the bonus gift from our recent trip.  I am coughing and hacking because my beautiful bride is a giver....and gave me her cold.  The clearing of mucus, filling of belly, and loosening of tendons brings a more positive attitude towards the day.  The weather app on my phone confirms it's going to be a beautiful day for a race.  I pull up the directions to the race and see it w

      It was a warm fall evening and 10 well trained professionals were gathered for a final meeting to sort gear and prepare for their upcoming mission...well, trained professionals might be a stretch. I had about 3 evenings of Spanish class and a little time on some phone apps. We were actually a diverse group of newbies and old hands sorting out 800 lbs of school supplies to transport to Guatemala along with our own gear.  We got our sorting done, some serious prayer time, and left with our plan to travel and meet up at the airport in St Louis.  During the week I had a little freak out on the the volcano hike portion of the trip.  We were getting some sketchy information on availability of packs for the trip, but it was decided that all would be ok. Just in case bring one if you can. Saturday morning started with a 1:45 AM wake up and 2:30 departure.  We met up with our fellow travelers and got our two 50 lb bags per person checked.  We flew to Atlanta where we met up with two more

   Time has gotten away from me!  It has been a few months since I even thought about writing.  It has been a fun summer.  No great feats of strength or endurance, but plenty of racing and hunting.      In July me and Marcy went to Missoula Montana to hang out with some awesome friends, run the Missoula Marathon, and see water shoot out of the earth. Thanks to Marcy I now have some awesome new flag shorts which have become a hit! The photo people at the marathon took some great pictures.  I like this one so much it is now on my wall!    The weather was beautiful and we had a good run. I ended up with an ok time and a 2nd in age group award.  I might have gotten 1st in age group if Matt hadn't made me run up a mountain the day before the race!      You can't go to Montana without seeing Old Faithful, so we headed to Yosemite Park the next day and climbed around on trails and watched the geyser. I love the entrance quote 'For the benefit and enjoyment of the people