“Don’t take life too seriously because you can’t come out of it alive.”

~Warren Miller

Where has the last year gone? As the countdown to the official start of this year’s Death Race begins I look back at all the things I have done and all the things I thought I would have done in preparation for this race. It is funny how a year later, priorities shift and life changes. I had envisioned the past year and training to look a certain way but in reality my training was much different than I thought it would be.

Did I chop a lot of wood? No. (That one is definitely going to bite me in the ass)

Can I deadlift a truck? No.

Do I know the whole Greek alphabet? No. (That was so 2010)

Did I stay up for over 60 hours crewing for a double and triple triathlon in which I paced over forty miles? Yes.

Have I spent whole nights hiking in the woods of Vermont? Yes.

Do I know first hand the effects of hypothermia? Yes.

Do I know what it’s like to hallucinate from fatigue and sleep deprivation? Yes.

Have I spent the last couple of months focusing on me? Yes.

Am I more aware of myself than ever before? Yes.

Do I have a happier life than a year ago? YES.

In al my training over the last year, I have learned one thing. The most important part of my training wasn’t any of the first couple of questions. It is the last three questions really have been the most important in my training. So I enter the Death Race more self aware, happier and with a good sense of humor!

I carry with me to this race a few famous quotes from the quote man himself Yogi Berra, all of which describe the Death Race so well…

“Baseball (insert Death Race instead) is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Thanks Yogi for some insightful wisdom going into this race. For now it’s some mellow blogs this week about gear, some amazing athletes and a review of my MovNat Course tomorrow. Otherwise I am hydrating, cleaning house, working hard at work, and otherwise prepping to play in the woods all next weekend.