About an hour ago it became official, the 2013 Grindstone 100 has been cancelled due to the Federal Government shutdown. I have been training consistently since last September with this race in mind, and now nothing.

The race was originally scheduled for 4 October, but with three days notice it was postponed due to the Government shutdown. If the Government had reopened and the permits were in place, the RD (Mr. Zealand handled all of this amazingly) had planned to move the race to this upcoming holiday weekend. The moment I received the email indicating this plan, I knew I wouldn’t be making Grindstone this year. Columbus Day weekend I have a standing plan with my family. We have a beach house in Savannah, GA on Tybee Island for Pirate Fest. Its going to be an awesome time.

Unfortunately the Government has not reopened and Mr. Zealand was forced to cancel the Grindstone. Thankfully he offered the runners a chance to transfer our entries to next year, which I quickly accepted.

I have to admit knowing I had trained for so long for this race and now it was not going to happen was devistating. I was at my desk at work when I opened the email and had to quietly make my way outside for a moment. When I got home I did what I imagine every other runner that was registered for Grindstone did, I went out for a run. Thats what we do. We run. Its how we digest difficult situations and find ways to deal with them.

This time it took a few more runs, but I am finally ok with losing my goal race this year. I am actually done with races for the year even though I have had one more race on my agenda. Instead this month and most of the rest of the year I am going to focus on family a little more. This weekend I am in Savannah with my son, then the week later on a cruise with my wife and father, after that the holidays and a good friends wedding. It’s time to recharge.

I spent a lot of time running this year and I still have a lot of miles left before 2014 gets here. But its time to relax and recover a little. I do not want to get burnt out. Especially when I have already planned an epic 2014 running calander. Currently on the agenda:

Tybee Island 50K – Jan 11
Seneca Creek 50k – March 8
C&O Canal 100M – April 26
TNF Endurance Challenge 50M- May 31/June7
Catoctin 50K – 26 July
Grindstone 100M – 3 October
Rosearyville 50k – 9 November

So this last week I have gone through a wide range of emotions, but I have accepted that this year was a great running year and its time to look to 2014. Also, as much running as I have done in 2013 none of it was a waste. I have learned so much about how to run ultramarathons. All of those lessons will help me be more successful next year.