100 Down... 100 to go!

Last weekend Lauren and I completed the fourth annual running of the Heart of Vermont Relay on our 6 person team. As always, the course covers 100 scenic miles along VT Route 100, beginning at Stowe and ending at Okemo. Also, as always, our team was not the fastest or the best conditioned, but definitely had more fun than just about any other entrants. We were a little off our time from last year, coming in at just about 13.5 hours (or a team average of 8:13 per mile), but with a field that now includes 80 teams, I think our 33rd place finish overall was very respectable. Even more impressively, we were 7th out of 20 'Masters' teams. Masters means we're all over 30, but since most of us are running the final downhill approach towards 40, I'm feeling good about our effort.

The race is organized by a good friend of ours, and this year made a large donation to the Boys and Girls Club. It is such a unique event -- a team day in a sport that is usually exclusively about individual goals, an opportunity to support a great charity, and a great reason to keep my aging butt in shape -- I really have a great time. I have probably mentioned it before, but this race has literally changed my life. In 2005 when Rob first floated the idea of the race, I was cruising along toward 220 pounds and clinging to the the belief that I could recapture the glory days of high school soccer and college intramural hockey whenever I felt like turning it on. After wheezing through 2 miles of running with Lauren that first spring, I realized I was in some trouble. This race isn't a marathon, but it can't be faked, either. I think knowing that I had to do the training if I didn't want to let my team down kept me honest, and along the way I realized that getting myself back into shape was a pretty good goal. Four years and about 40 pounds later, I still think I have Rob and Lauren to thank for turning this aspect of my life around... it was the right event, right level of challenge and the right time for me.

So now that fitness has it proper place in my life again, it is time to seek a new challenge. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Lauren has really gotten turned on to cycling this summer (much to my delight), and tomorrow we're going to try to knock down another 100 miles in our first attempt at the Mad River Century ride. It's a "ride" and not a "race", so we're going to take it easy, ride with some friends and take full advantage of the food and water stops. My longest ride to date is 70 miles, so this is going to be a pretty good challenge. Look for an update post to follow sometime next week.

And don't worry... we're not going to rest on our laurels after this weekend... Lauren is already working to convince me that a half Ironman competition would be fun next year!