just take everything down to highway 61

Bob Dylan. I love listening to his tuneage on a drive and usually when I am doing this it brings dreams of the Minnesota northland. And the evergreen trees. And I love it...

It's mid-January in SLP and that means that visions of spring and summer are popping into my head nonstop. In only a month and a half the springtime air will be teasing the skin and although it really means a month or two of winter still remain, the feeling is unmatched. People are out, trails can be run on, it's turning green, and you simply feel good. This spring and summer will be the greatest of my life.

I will be getting married on May 28 at the Lake Harriet Peace Garden followed by a huge party at 5 event center. I cannot wait for this. Julie (with a little help from myself) has planned a fantastic day.

I will be running Grandma's Marathon and thinking about challenging for the W. We will drive to Duluth a couple times this spring and run on Highway 61. What an atmosphere in Duluth. Can you imagine what the feeling would be like to follow in the footsteps of Dick Beardsley?

I will be crewing for my very good friend Kurtis Decker at the Black Hills 100 mile race in Sturgis, SD, on June 25. I cannot think of a better way to recover from a fast marathon than to run on the Centennial Trail in late June. Crewing for Kurt coincides perfectly with a trip to Rapid City to visit the newly acquired in-laws. Very exciting to take a trip to the Black Hills in the summertime as I have been there twice and only during the coldest part of the year. Still beautiful though.

And after the 4th of July we will take a honeymoon. Something a little different is in the cards, but pretty exciting nonetheless. Julie and I are both active people and although I am not the most adventurous person in the world, we will do some exploring and experience as much as we can.

Here is my very tentative race plan through the end of June:
Jan 22 3000m indoors at the U
Feb 5 USATF Cross Country Championships in San Diego over 12 km
March 5 *Tentative* Reedy River Run 10k
March 12 Gate River Run 15k USATF Championship Jacksonville, FL (Best race ever)
March 20 *pending qualification* IAAF World Cross Country Championships March 20 Punta Umbría, Spain
April 30 Get in Gear 10k Minneapolis
May 14 USATF 25k Championshpships
June 11 USATF 8k Championships Carmel, Indiana
June 18 Grandma's Marathon Duluth, MN