If you're in need of some great sunnies for the upcoming season, then the fine folks at Smith Optics are in a giving mood. All you need do is head on over to the Team Pearl Izumi-Smith site and wax lyrical for a few lines.

Continuing with the PI-S theme, I had the pleasure of taking teammate and Phoenix Marathon masters champ, Scott Jaime out for a quick trip up Horsetooth last night. Scott was in town flogging pharmaceuticals to the local medical community, and like the dedicated trail runner he is he found time in his busy workday to pound some dirt and hills for an hour or so.

On a not so positive note, somewhere in this run something gave in my lower right leg. There's been a dull pain there for a couple of days, which I assumed was achilles related, and that flared to something a little more concerning on the way down the mountain yesterday. I've definitely been compensating for my foot the last week or so, and finally when the foot issue seemed to be resolved, the compensatory effects appear to have taken hold. Anyway, pretty sure it's some kind of tear in the lower calf, and not tendon related, which according to my internet sleuthing should be at least a week to FULLY heal. The key here is to have patience - which for me (and most runners) is easier said than done. So I guess the plan now is to properly rest the lower right leg so I'm not out running a modified stride and transplanting the stress elsewhere up or down the body.

The problem for me, however, is my seeming addiction to racing and the upcoming Moab race weekend in a week and a half, which looks like it will be fun on a number of different levels. Not only does the event take place in an insanely beautiful part of the country, but it is also shaping up to be a competitive one: Ryan B, Karl. M, John Anderson, Tim Wagonner, Jared Campbell, Ty Draney and more I'm sure.

In addition, there are a bunch of people attending who I was looking forward to either meeting or just plain catching up with. The trail running community is a funny one and races are as much event as they are an opportunity to catch up with friends that you may only see once or twice a year. So it's a tough call, but I know for sure the sensible way to approach this, and it's just a case of drumming that into my thick skull until it sticks. Writing this little rant is part of that process.

Sorry about the whine, and enough about me and my woes. Get yourself over to the PI-S website and have a go at winning some cool gear!