I need to tell you something. I’m facing the end of an era and I don’t really know what I’m going to do with myself. Yes, I’m being a bit dramatic. But if you’re a runner or if you’ve been around one, you’ll get it.

In case you missed it – Pearl Izumi dissolved their running line in 2016. Finally, the end of my Pearl Izumi era has arrived. I hoarded a few pairs of my favorite shoes in the ensuing months. But this is it. I’m about to start running in my last pair of PI trail running shoes and there’s no more out there. I know there will be more shoes to come and I’ll eventually find a new love. But for now, I’m in mourning.

Second, I’m going to tell you about the beginning of a new era. At least that’s what I’m calling this one. I’m not much on New Years resolutions. But I do try and have some short and long term goals in mind for the year. One of my goals this year is to acknowledge something that made me happy each day in 2019. I have a journal that I’m going to write them down in. My idea is that it can simply be something short and sweet, something in depth, or even a number of things for the day. Sometimes we get bogged down with negative things both in our personal lives and in the world around us. I think this will be a great way to keep a positive outlook on life.

I’ll close this by bringing it back around to running. Things have been going smoothly for me. I’ve been getting some good consistency back since resuming running in May 2018, after recovering from a tibial stress fracture. I ran two ultramarathons at the end of 2018 and I finally feel ready to tackle some new challenges this year. The big one will be the Yeti 50 Miler on June 1. I also have a lot of other exciting races on my schedule between now and then and I can’t wait!

There’s a lot of training between now and the Yeti. Good thing I’m a big fan of hard work!