Canyons 2022 Prequel: A New Year, A New Story

December 11th, 2021 started out as just a typical Saturday.  After some running, Sam and I went to Target to buy some holiday decorations, we walked some dogs for one of her clients, we laughed at a car that was decorated with a reindeer nose and antlers and throwing a road rage fit, and eventually we made it back home in the early afternoon.  We had a discussion while we were out running errands, and Sam decided it was a good idea to take a pregnancy test because she had been feeling a little off for the last couple of weeks.  I didn't really think much of it.  Sure, Sam and I had talked about getting married and starting a family, and honestly we weren't taking very many preventative measures, though we were not trying for a baby just yet.  My preference was to get married in late 2022 or early 2023, then try for a baby about a year after that.  At that moment, we both had it in our minds that Sam was only taking this pregnancy test to rule out the possibility of being pregnant so she could then possibly consult a doctor to find out why she wasn't feeling like herself.  I was in the kitchen washing something in the sink while she was taking the test.  When I turned around I saw Sam standing there looking at me like I had just sat up out of a casket.  "What's up?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.  She didn't say anything.  She didn't even blink.  She extended her arm and handed me the pregnancy test.  I was looking at it upside down, so I turned it right side up.  The test was unmistakably positive.  The two lines, which indicate a positive pregnancy test, were steadfast and prominent on the white background.  I looked up at her with the same look on my face.  "Oh my God, you're prego".  I replied in a half excited, half terrified tone.  I immediately guided Sam over to the couch so we could sit down and gather ourselves.  We spent the next hour talking things over, trying to process what the hell had just transpired.  My mind was in overdrive, trying to come to terms with this life changing news that had just been delivered to me.  I was shocked, but it wasn't like I was so caught off guard that I started spazzing out.  I knew we had talked about doing this.  This was part of our plan.  We weren't necessarily trying to prevent a pregnancy, but we weren't trying for one either.  Sam had even brought up concerns in the past of whether or not she could have kids at thirty-eight years old.  But now it was happening.  Our lives were about to change. 

When the shock wore off Sam became overjoyed and excited almost immediately.  She was all about it.  For me, that wasn't exactly the case.  Yes, I was happy, but I had concerns.  My first thought was "can I financially afford to take care of a kid right now?"  My second thought was "Is my life as I know it over, or is it only going to change?".  All I could think about was "am I ready for this right now?".  It took me three or four days to wrap my head around all of this.  After I took some time to process this news, I determined that yes, I could afford to take care of a kid, and no, I don't think my life necessarily has to end, although it will change quite a bit.  I eventually came to the realization that it was time for this to happen.  We're not getting any younger, after all, and I feel that we're very fortunate to have gotten pregnant without really trying.  Who knows if we will be this lucky the second time around?  We had a great holiday season and we gradually shared the news with our friends and family.  Weeks and months passed, ultrasounds were done, pregnancy audio books were purchased and listened to at various times, Sam and I got engaged, she went through all of the fun and not so fun phases of pregnancy, her business grew and developed, we became closer than before, and so much more.  It's now mid-April, we're five-and-a-half months in, and Sam is taking it like a champ.  She's expanded her business, done things that are outside of her comfort zone, eliminated toxic people from her life, remained physically active, and improved her mental health, all while growing a little dude.  I'm incredibly proud of her for all that she's done.  

For the past five years, mid-April has also been a pivotal time of year for me.  At this time of year, snow season is coming to an end, I'm logging more miles, and the weather in California is shifting from Winter to Spring.  Oh yeah, and it's almost time for me to run sixty-two miles from Auburn across the Sierra Nevada foothills to Foresthill.  This journey that I've been partaking in since 2017 is known as "The Canyons 100K" or simply "Canyons".  I've been running this race every year for a little while for multiple reasons.  First of all, it's a friggin' awesome race.  It's very well executed, the aid stations are great, the volunteers are electric, and the course is beautiful.  Along the route from Auburn to the outskirts of Foresthill, runners experience mountains, canyons, valleys, trees, bridges, rivers, creeks, streams, lots of climbing, lots of descending, highs, and lows.  The path ranges from a narrow single track trail to a wide fire road, with a small stretch of paved road near the halfway point at Foresthill Elementary School.  Another reason why I run Canyons is because it's a Western States qualifier.  Each year that I finish within the allotted time, I get a lotto ticket into the drawing for Western States the following year.  The reason why I choose this particular race as a qualifier is because it's only about two-and-a-half hours from where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it's run on the same trails as the second half of Western States.  Western States is my dream race and experiencing these trails first hand is an exciting experience, and it will hopefully prepare me well for when I eventually do get accepted into the race.  

Canyons typically kicks off my ultramarathon season every year.  And each year, life is a little different than the prior year.  There are always new experiences, new stories, and new things going on leading up to the race.  I like to think I'm in a pretty damn good place this year.  Sam and I have been together for a while, we have a kid on the way, we're engaged, she has been busy growing her business, things have been going well for me at work, it was a pretty good snow season, etc.  I would say my training is in a pretty good place too.  I've been logging lots of long runs over the last several months, which ultimately peaked at my all night fifty-kilometer run through Tahoe a few weeks back.  I've also been doing vertical training both on the trail and the treadmill.  And, get this, I started going to the gym about a month ago.  For a while I was doing low key strength training on my balcony with a yoga mat and resistance band, but I've recently been going to the gym in our apartment complex and training with weights four days a week.  Hopefully developing my core fitness will work to my advantage when I'm hauling my ass up the climbs that I'll be tackling on Saturday.  Sam has been away all week staying at a client's house in Los Altos.  She's been gone a lot lately and I miss her, but I know she'll be cheering me on in spirit even though she won't be accompanying me on the trip to Auburn this year.  

How will this year's race go?  Hopefully it will go well, but it's 100 kilometers with 15,000 feet of climbing.  You never really know.  Every year has a different story leading up the race and a different story to be told after the race is over.  The weather for Saturday is looking pretty good.  Plenty of sunshine with lows in the low forties, highs in the high sixties coming off a few days of rain.  I feel that I'm as ready as I'm going to be, and all I can do on Saturday is give it all I got.  I get nineteen hours on the course to qualify for Western States and twenty hours to finish the race.  If I don't make the cut off times I'll be forced to drop out.  I'll be driving out to Auburn on Friday and the race starts at 5:00 AM on Saturday morning.  We'll see how things go.  Regardless of what happens, I'll have a story to tell, but hopefully that story will involve a strong finish and a 2023 Western States lotto ticket.