Better late than never!

When I arrived in Eugene in June of last year, I hooked up with the Eugene Running Company and started logging miles in attempt to get myself back in shape.

Several months prior to relocating to Eugene to work with Garage Games, I had clocked my best time ever in a challenging (very hilly) 10k on Catalina island off the coast of southern California.  …unfortunately, I came home and tripped over a 15lb weight I left on the floor …busting a toe in the process. I was limping on that for over 5 months.

Back to the future, starting with the Eugene Running Company was a bit of an up hill battle ( jogging 3 miles almost killed me), but thanks to their awesome support, training, and encouragement of staff like Laura and Liisa I went on to smash my previous 10k record several months later.

Very much to my surprise, Liisa (that’s Liisa with two i’s), landed me a last minute spot on a team running in the Hood to Coast Relay. Two days of cramming into a mini van with strangers, racing from relay point to relay point, no sleep, little food, steep hills, rain (only chance for a shower), and running like hell all sounded like too much fun. It was an awesome opportunity and there was no way I was going to pass it up.

Life has a way of repeating its self. As fate would have it, getting ready for my 3rd and final leg of the race, I badly roller my left ankle and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, splitting my knee open in the process. I knew I had a short route for my last leg, a little over 3 miles, so I figured I could run it before the swelling set in. There was no way I was going to let the team down, beside “what else could go wrong”?  …that’s when the wind picked up and the rain started pouring. I hate running in the rain, but such was my karma.

I finished with a slower pace than I would have liked, but I finished, handed off to the next runner and crowded back into the van to head off for the next relay point. The team finished, we partied and celebrated on the beach with the thousands of others, and a good time was had by all.

…Two weeks later I rerolled the same ankle on a 3 mile hike south of Eugene in Brice Creek. The universe has a way of making its point.

That ankle injury plagued me for a long time, over six months, and by that time I was working an absolutely stupid amount of hours on Fallen Empire: Legions along with the rest of the dev team. But that’s another story.

So I have been back running regularly (more like a controlled stagger) for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I hit my 100 mile mark! That’s 100 miles logged with the running company group. I scored my “100 Mile Club” shirt and a sweet penguin bobble head! Thanks Liisa!  :O)

Better late than never. 500 mile club here I come.