I’ve decided that I’m not in a training cycle so much as I am in a maintaining cycle. I spent 5 months building for Umstead and was probably in my best physical/endurance shape heading into it. It would be great to take a step up from there, but the timing is a little tricky with…
Managing Expectations
I don’t mean to do it. I really don’t, but I have a habit of letting my expectations get out of hand. I typically set out with reasonable targets and goals for myself, however along the way they start to grow. First a little here. Then a little more there. The next thing I know,…
Western States 100 Lottery
Western States is the oldest 100 mile race in the world. It has similar prestige in the ultra running world to the Boston Marathon, however unlike Boston it is open to anyone who can complete a qualifying race regardless of time. And there are many qualifying races that are less than 100 miles in distance. …
Current Shoe Rotation
This blog is almost a year old now and I haven’t done a post yet about my running shoes. The primary reason is because I’m not a shoe guy. It seems like most blogs I read people are pretty fanatical about their shoes. They have a specific shoe or brand they love and that’s all…
Buckle #4
Finish time: 31:35:56
Why Do The Right Decisions Always Have To Be So Hard?
I would love for someone to tell why it’s so hard to do the right thing. It’s incredibly easy to know what you should do, but can be frustratingly difficult to actually do it. Right is good and everyone wants to be good. It’s always easy and straightforward in the abstract, however once you actually…
Buckle #2
I survived in 26 hours and 21 minutes. My race report probably won’t done until late this week.
Origin Story: How I Found My Luck
I’m not normally a superstitious person. I’ve stepped on enough cracks in my life to cripple a major country. I’m partially color blind so who knows what kind of cats are crossing my paths. And the only wood I knock on are doors. So when it comes to racing, I don’t always eat the same…
Why Am I Doing This To Myself?
I typically ask myself this question at least once every ultra I run. And I don’t ask this in a joking, “gosh, what have I gotten myself into” way either. When I start questioning my reason for being hours into a run with hours left to go, it’s 100% serious. Sometimes it’s just a fleeting thought that passes through my head,…
Blizzard Run!
OK, it wasn’t quite a blizzard out this morning, but there were a couple inches of snow on the roads. There were still some snow flakes drifting down and portions of the run had some sort of sleeting/frozen pellet precipitation falling out of the sky. The conditions were far from the worst I’ve ever run…