“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” Jack London.

“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.” Jack London.

"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well." Jack London.

You may notice a theme. My friend and running partner Ben Clardy inspired me to read The Call of the Wild last winter. This led to me reading most of Jack London's works. Somehow during my undergraduate reading I had escaped this great American author. After having watched Bruce Mackey win another Iditarod, I had a desire to get out in the wild winter and run a race. The Yukon 300, Susitna and Arrowhead all came to mind, but recently here in my neck of the woods the Beast of Burden came into being. I decided that this would be my fouray into winter racing.

This is the first winter that I have run outside all winter long. In winters past I have run outside intermittently on a sunny day when the roads were well plowed, but this winter I have gone outside every day and night to run, in lake effect snow, frigid wind chill and by the bright cold light of full moon. It has been quite humbling. Running on a snowy trail is significantly more work than anything else I have ever done. Muscles I didnt know that I have have been sore and stiff. The longer one runs the more this seems to set in, and its exponentially effected by the "feels like" temperature. You quickly learn in winter the "feels like" temperature is all that matters. It may say 20 degrees on the thermometer but if the weather channel says it "feels like" 5 or -5, believe it and be ready to freeze your @$% off.

So finally it comes down to the time for the race and although I feel that I have prepared as best as I can I know that anything can happen and that is what I must be prepared for. Let it snow.
Matt

"Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." - William Faulkner