Type 4 Fun!

Indeed, this occurred nine whole days ago but a new year calls for a new post and new hopes!

I’m starting my 2026 similarly to how I started my 2025… and my 2024 and probably my 2023… dealing with an illness. It seems to have become a tradition that within the first 30 days of a new year I should require the use of my allotted sick time at work.

My hope for the new year is that this is where the similarities end. 2025 was largely a bum year filled with disappointments and lackluster efforts, but I did manage to exit the year in some decent shape. I haven’t run in quite some time, however I have been cycling a fair amount to keep the aerobic fitness up. The office gym acquired a couple of Pelotons, so I’ve been enjoying exploring those machines. I have been legitimately surprised at the quality of the mechanics. I always thought you were paying for the fancy screen and not much else, but the bike is comfortable, stable, and quiet. An aerobic 60-90 minute ride is pretty nice thing, throw in some “hill” sprints and you feel like you’re really getting work done.

I even went cross country skiing once before the year’s end! My year old skis, boots and poles finally got some use! It was really fun, and while it is presently raining in Boston, I am hoping for more local opportunities in 2026. If I have to travel to New England hinterlands for some skiing, I will do so. Something I ended up not doing last year but certainly could have.

These are just a couple of my hopes for 2026 and while I don’t really do resolutions, I do like to make plans.

The principal goal for 2026 is finally bag a hundo. I have a propensity to stack challenge upon challenge but I’m going to keep this one simple. No mountains, no deserts, but instead a friendlier terrain that I am much more accustomed to. As of this moment, the plan is to return to Michigan to run the Hallucination 100 at Run Woodstock this September. I have participated at many Run Woodstock weekends, my affinity for the event knows no bounds, which you can read about in an earlier post.

While I prepare for this 100 miler, I aim to sprinkle a few other challenges. I currently reside on a wait list for 2 races in May, with my eyes on a 3rd in case my number doesn’t get called up for either.

The first is local and would be a first for me, the TARC Wapack and Back 50 miler. A very small race, only 45 participants per distance. That’s probably why it sold out within hours of registration and I had to settle for the wait list. As of this moment, I am 18 on the wait list, so its not inconceivable that my number will get called up. A far cry from the Gorbeia Suzrein skyrace that would have punctuated my trip to Spain for the Ultra Pirineu 100 (which I have yet to write about… oops!). I was relegated to the waitlist where I was near the bottom of a list 4 times the size of the allowable entrants. I didn’t even bother checking again.

The Trail Animals Running Club is a local group I am going to try and get more involved with in 2026. They host several popular races that are under 2 hours drive away from me, which I should definitely be taking more advantage of.

If Wapack and Back doesn’t work out, which takes place on May 9th there is a chance my first back up will. However, logistically it will pose some more difficulty as it would require a road trip to Pennsylvania.

The World’s End 100k has been on my radar for a little while now. It takes place on May 30th in World’s End State Park in Forksville, PA. It’s about 12k of rolling vert in the middle of nowhere and it looks gnarly as hell.

Now here is where timing becomes a factor. If I don’t get into Wapack and Back, bummer but okay. There is time still to wait and see if I get into World’s End. But World’s End will require some amount of additional planning and last minute arrangements my prove prohibitive. Never mind that I’m currently sitting at the number 154 on this waitlist that allows for 200 entrants, and it feels much less likely that I’ll get into this one, at what point do I decide that I’m not getting in to my back up race when my back up to the back up race actually takes place before Wapack and Back does?

I’m so excellent at planning. Number 1 race on May 9th, Number 2 race on May 30th, Number 3 race in case I don’t get to run Numbers 1 or 2 takes place on May 3rd. Brilliant!

Anyway, the back up to the back up is a revenge race. The Breakneck Point 42k bested me last year, and I thought I might return to in in 2026 or perhaps 2027 depending on how plans shook out. I’m going to have to keep my eye on that registration as well lest I lose the opportunity to run any of the 3 race options for the Spring.

So there in lies the problem. I have to either commit to Breakneck Point early enough to insure entry but late enough where I feel comfortable forgetting about Wapack and Back. It is technically feasible that I could run both Breakneck Point and World’s End but I need to be smarter about expending time and resources on the races that I choose. Both events would require time off and extensive travel, not to mention the financial cost.

Why then is it so important that I fit either Wapack or World’s End into the calendar? Well you see, because more broadly I have plans for 2027 and beyond that will require maintaining certain qualifications. I can start this cycle by completing Wapack or World’s End as well as Hallucination 100 this year. I’ll perhaps wait to elaborate on these plans until later in the year.

These are just the marquee events planned for this year, there may be additional smaller races, some 50ks, some project goals and those will be included on the Calendar page.

On the topic of setbacks, last year had a few. I found myself getting sick for an extended period of time twice early in 2025, as well as getting sick a no fewer than three more times throughout the year – not a record for me but pretty close. I incurred a couple of minor injuries last year as well, including a persistent tibial/ankle nuisance pain no one seems to really have a handle on how to make it go away. A fall at Vermont Overland late in the season and just shortly before Ultra Pirineu turned out to be bigger deal than at the time it felt like.

But really, the biggest hurdle of 2025 was psychological. It was a harder year than usual to emotionally tackle and overcome these physical setbacks and stay on course with training. Most of my performance issues can reasonably be attributed to a severe lack of motivation brought on by depression and anxiety, not wholly related to running or performing. A topic I plan to go into more deeply in the race report for Ultra Pirineu that I promise I will write.

But for now, here’s to hoping for a better and more productive, less sick and less injured, more motivated and positive 2026!