This year marks the 10th and final year for Patty Godfrey as race director for the Snowdrop Ultra 55-Hour Race and Relay, held over New Year's Eve weekend in Missouri City, Texas, outside of Houston. It is a fundraiser for scholarships for children's cancer survivors as well as children's cancer research. Godfrey explains the origins of the race as well as training tips, and insight into the food providers (you get real meals at mealtime.). While she will step away as RD after this year, we don't think she will be far for the coming years.

So, I bailed on doing the Trailway marathon on Saturday because my allergies flared up and I figured spending all day in the woods was kind of a bad idea.

Unfortunately, I hadn't run much all week as I anticipated saving my legs for the weekend. The weekend runs were productive but not near the mileage I needed for the week.

This leaves me rather undertrained for the 50K at Mission Tejas in two weeks. I'll eke it out but Lord knows it won't be pretty.

Oh, and I am loving the Coros Apex Pro watch I bought a couple of weeks ago. Pretty simple interface and has some cool options like setting it to run, track run or trail run. I know other watches do this, but just not any I've used. It's two thumbs up for now.

Brownsville native has only been running for about four years, but he has rocketed out of the gate, winning races and handling distances that many wait to do until they have more experience.

Hurtado, 37, just smashed the course record at the Habenero Hundred race in August, completing 100 miles in 18:57:16.

His experience working for the Cameron County Beach Patrol may have given him an edge because of the course's ridiculous amounts of sand as well as punishing heat.

He is a humble champion who nerds out with stats.

This is a guy to watch.

After weeks of underwhelming mileage, I finally got super close to hitting my mark for the week. Months of training in ridiculous heat seemed to pay off when I did a pre-dawn 8-miler with my friend, Sara. We employed my 1:1 interval pace and with the exception of a couple of spots, stuck to it. The air was humid but much less hot than when I usually run. Well, starting just after 5 am versus 10 or 11 am, helps. Ha ha.

It was also during this run that I realized I need a new/different sports watch. For the most part, it seemed to read consistently, but then it would crawl to a 70-minute pace or speed up to a 7:40 pace, without my body actually doing anything different. It got really weird when we ventured over to Eisenhower Park to hike the Rocky Horror race preview. Even though I was hiking pretty well, the watch's pace indicator didn't register anything, like I was standing still.

I have too many important events coming up that I need a reliable watch to indicate my pace, heart rate and time.

After surveying some friends, I bought a Coros Apex Pro off of Amazon for $349 (my AmEx card is crying). The selling point was its 36-hour battery life with GPS, as well as the enthusiastic testimonials from Hundo and Babe, among others.

I get the new watch on Monday, so I will report back next week.

Meanwhile, I need to get with the folks at Suunto to find out about my options for the clunker I bought in February.

My eye situation continued last week with being told that I needed to heal a little more before I could return to wearing contacts. While I'm grateful to be able to see, running with glasses is unwieldy and steamy. There were some other frustrating things happening.

But as I looked up an email address for someone, a three-year-old email from my late friend, Patricia, caught me off-guard. She sternly advised me to get out of a tenuous, pseudo-relationship. The words struck home.

I got to thinking about a number of things regarding this person and why I remained in touch even though we live over three hours away from each other. It made me think about other relationships with similar characteristics over the years.

In an impulsive move, I texted him and said I never wanted to see him again and that I want to be someone's primary person, not secondary. Not the best way to handle something but my emotions got the better of me.

This has led to some raw and emotional outpourings from me and also to the realization that I need to find a counselor. There is a lot of grief and low self-esteem going on here. 

Some may say I shouldn't share all of this, but you know how I am. It's how I roll.

I'm ready to find a path to healing. It won't be smooth but I need to do this for me.

It happens to the best of us: you are more or less nailing your training workouts and then -- boom -- something happens.

For me, I was foiled by some hydrogen peroxide contact lens cleaner that was supposed to be neutralized but wasn't. I tried mitigating the pain and sensitivity with water and clear drops, but it persisted. Long story short: I ended up in the ER and found out my left cornea suffered some chemical damage. Things are improving but I am currently waiting to find out when I can see an eye doctor for a follow-up.

Meanwhile, this set me back a little.

Me and Hundo talk about our training for Snowdrop at the end of the year. He is trying to wave me off from doing too many longish races leading up to the Big Event, but I worry I won't have enough mileage under my feet.

Oh, and he talked me out of going back to the hotel to sleep during Snowdrop. He knows me too well and is concerned I might just quit if I get too comfortable. He's probably right, but the idea of sleeping in a warm bed for a few hours before returning to the event, really sounded appealing. 

Lydia Rios has one of the most uplifting stories of anyone I've talked to. She came to the US from Zacatecas, Mexico when she was 12. Her father was dying from leukemia and passed at age 39. Rios' mother decided to keep the family in the US, despite having temporary visas. She started school in Pasadena, Texas, outside of Houston. She had to learn English quickly. She was a teenage mother and married the baby's father at 16. That relationship, marked by abuse, did not last long. After that, she met a charming man who became violent and controlling. They had three more sons -- including a set of twins who are non-verbal autistic. Her husband fled to Mexico when she filed abuse charges against him. This left her with few skills and four children to raise on her own. Rios turned to running to cope. She ran marathons, 50-milers, and 100-milers. When she DNF'd a mountain ultra, she vowed to return and do the 200-mile distance. And she did. Rios shares her tragedies and triumphs in equal measure. Lately, she has added college (she is studying communication!) to her busy life. Listen to this and you will understand why she will prove her doubters wrong.

I volunteered at Reveille Peak Ranch Saturday night into Sunday at the final installment of the Capt'n Karl's Trail Race Series.

It was great to help so many runners reach their goals and help others who decided that goal was not to finish. No shame in that.

Sometimes you gotta grind out those miles regardless of how ugly they may be.

I have found the best sports bra (for me)

And I got a sweet deal on some Altra Lone Peak 6 shoes...but make sure you visit your local shop to make sure which shoe is right for your needs.

Over the last week, I had a minor seismic shift in how I look at things. Rather than immediately defaulting to the negative, I opted to be positive. It's been a game-changer. Whether it lasts, who knows? But I do know that I'm trying to be more present and mindful of how I react to things.

Also, I began my 50K training on Saturday and made a new friend. Turns out, she is doing Snowdrop at the end of the year! It's going to be a Big Party because there will be more friends joining in than previously known.

I made a game-day decision to run the 10K at the Capt'n Karl's nighttime trail race on Saturday because that race marked my 10-year anniversary of Big Boy trail runs. Had a great mental outlook, despite my toes catching every dang rock. PS: I didn't fall.

Photo: the 2012 medal vs. the 2022 medal.