Well it’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about setting goals for the new year, time to reflect on how this past year went and what we can learn form it. Mostly it’s a time to take a few minutes to see just how far we have come and where our hard work has gotten us.
This year was a real roller coaster for me. Things started off with a bang, and not in a good way. I totally fell apart at the Lake Sonoma 50 mile, a race that I had really focused on and hoped would be a great stepping stone for the New Year, but it wasn’t. As it happened, I was able to pick myself back up, regroup and get myself back in to the swing of things. The next three races I felt that I was able to start to show myself that all the hard work was paying off with three wins and three course records. My goal for the year was to put all my eggs in to racing well at the Leadville 100 in August and I was feeling like I was coming in to good form in these earlier races, which equaled confidence.
From this high, it felt like I hit rock bottom when Leadville came and I wasn’t able to perform how I wanted as I couldn’t make it to the finish line. It was just one of those days, but I’d put so much in to it that I kind of crashed mentally in the weeks afterwards. You sit around feeling sorry for yourself and the days tick by, but like someone once told me, “The high’s are high and the low’s are low. If you can’t deal with both, you’re in the wrong game.”
So, now here we are at the end of the 2015 and I’m fired up again. With all of the snow and cold in Colorado at the moment, I’m spending more time on the treadmill than the trails, but I’m excited to get 2016 started and rolling along. I think I’m starting to get the hang of this game and I can’t wait to get back on that start line.
I’d like to thank everyone that has supported me along the way this year, and I wish everyone good luck for this coming year. Special thanks to everyone in Leadville for welcoming me in to your family and showing me a good time this summer. A special thanks to my wife for putting up with me on this rollercoaster ride of a year.
m.
Michael Aish is a former New Zealand Olympian, 2000-10,000/2004-5,000m, and current ultra marathoner for the Mizuno Race Team. With PR’s of 13:22 for 5K and 27:46 for 10K, Michael has been tearing up the ultra scene for the last four years, with his most notable performance being a 2nd place finish in the 2014 Leadville 100.