Happy Friday!  Today is a happy Friday for me indeed.  After finishing the Race for PH with Taylor and her family on Sunday morning, I spent a better part of the day traveling from San Francisco to Memphis for client meetings on Monday and Tuesday.  In true startup spirit, my colleagues and I flew straight from Memphis to our company’s semiannual Team Camp in Santa Cruz for a full day of meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.  I was awake for over 20 hours each day, most of which I spent working.  I went to bed much later than I normally do, and didn’t have access to the foods I like to eat.  Exercise was an afterthought, and my primary focus was getting through the week knowing that my travel (6 out of the past 8 weeks) will subside starting today.

Never one to wallow in despair, a divine gift of Indian food and beer from Taylor and Safeway got me back on the right track last night, and I’m excited to get out for long runs today and tomorrow.  As I turn the page to a more stable stretch of training ahead of Quad Dipsea and North Face Endurance Challenge 50K, a quick look at our collection of medals gave me a pick-me up: the haul on the medal rack Taylor bought for me last Christmas is enough to make Michael Phelps jealous.  It wasn’t easy to narrow them down, but here are my five favorites.

1. Ironman Lake Placid 2012: pure class.  Although the distances of the full Ironman are appalling to some, the medal is far from egregious, and the medal makes subtle mention of each distance across the top.  It also happens to be red white and blue, which seals it’s legendary status on the rack.

2. North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile 2012: After finishing the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K in 2011, I couldn’t fathom how the people walking around with the black medals felt after running another 20 miles.  In 2012, I found out for myself.

3. Escape from Alcatraz 2011: Not the biggest medal, but does it need any introduction?  I would have been happier with a warm coat after swimming across the San Francisco Bay, but this looks better on the medal rack.

4. Healdsburg Half Marathon 2013: This medal is enormous – think about Flava Flav wearing a clock around his neck.  If that isn’t enough, it also has a wine cork built in.

 

5. NYC Marathon 2011: Simple, but an undisputed classic.  It captures the skyline, has a nice weight to it, and if you look closely, you’ll see that it even oxidizes like the Statue of Liberty.