So I am here on the couch with some mild discomfort and settling into the idea of things being like this for the following week. I can at least not have any guilt for not running or hitting the trails because I was lazy or procrastinated but that I legitimately couldn't. The surgery was more bark than it was bite but the early aftermath is not so fun.
So I will put my mind onto distracting, motivating things. It's clear to me I want to immerse myself into running long, primal, natural routes in the new year. I want to redeem the Boston Marathon of 2011 first in May and prove I have that 2:50 in me but from there want to feel what it is like to push the boundaries of the farthest I have run by moving up. Haliburton 50k seems like the next logical step in racing both from the distance and date of the race. Would it be possible to run it and Waterfront? Haliburton would be Sept 9th (I guess) and the Waterfront would be approximately 4 weeks and a couple of days later. I would love to complete that challenge if it were possible.

Is this my schedule for 2012?
Winterman 10k or Half (Feb 19)
Around the Bay (March 25)
Run for Reach (April 10)
Ottawa Marathon (May 27)
5 Peaks Camp Fortune Enduro (August 18)
Haliburton 50K (Sept 9)
Toronto Waterfront Marathon (Oct 14th)

It may be biting off more than I can chew but if I run, run, run and keep up the long minutes I cna stay in shape and hit these targets assuming we can afford the time and weekends. I think what I want most from the year is to experience a long natural terrain race moving up in the beginning of the ultra distances. I want to know how to plan and train for it and what my body and mind will experience in that journey. I have had a piece of it in my recent trail adventures like below but I want to experience more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k7QSSK1kWc

In my mind I want the CDR race to happen and it hinges on family support and being able to afford it but I hope i can happen. May require some financial ingenuity but not motivation. I am 100 % in.
Facing my guilt of absenteeism from my old days of triathlon still itch me but that is for another post. Bottom line is I have to do what is right for me, my family and my current drive.