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I had a humorous exchange with a co-worker this past week.  He’s training for his first ultra that’s coming up in a couple weeks (Labor Pains) and I asked how far he was running this weekend.  He said “just 20 miles” and immediately paused like he’d just dropped the F bomb.  After a second, he…

My big western adventure is about to begin.  Between work and life, I’ve been a bit too busy to put together my normal preview post.  I feel physically and mentally prepared for the race.  Logistics will be a bit more challenging given I’ll be flying to a race for the first time.  I think I’ll…

Well, that was ugly. I’m 3 weeks out from Bighorn so had 31 miles scheduled this morning for my longest run of this mini-cycle.  Unfortunately, I only managed 26.5 miles before pulling the plug and calling it a day.  This is an extremely rare event for me.  If I have a distance planned, then I…

Ultrarunning is still very niche and not well known, but three of the larger races in the sport have been able to percolate up to the broader masses: Western States (original 100), Badwater (135 miles in the desert), and the Barkley Marathons.  The latter is run by a guy named Gary Cantrell (aka “Lazurus Lake”)…

No, didn’t hit my big 10K target (finishing a hundred 100s), however I did reach a little one this morning – namely 10,000 miles running.  Or more specifically, 10k miles in my training log which dates to August 2012.  I ran track for a couple years back in high school and “trained” for several 5ks/mud…

With the coming and going of the Western States lottery last weekend, my 2018 schedule is just about finalized.  The structure will be very similar to this year with three distinct phases that will each last about four months: Training Buildup, 100-Mile Racing Season, and Post Racing Season.  I would like to say that I’ve…

Ultrarunners are always looking for new challenges whether it’s bigger mountains, longer runs, or more extreme weather.  Anything that is out of the ordinary or could be considered epic intrigues us.  We’re trying to find the next big A Adventure.  And when we find something that tickles our fancy, we’ll spend countless hours planning and…

Recently, I’ve been attempting to decide whether I’m injured or not.  The good news is that my knee is feeling better.  Or more accurately, I don’t notice it feeling a little weak nearly as often.  I wouldn’t say may knee is strong, but I don’t have quite the same fear of it being injured as…

I’ve been debating with myself for a while now about writing this post.  I’m not really a superstitious person (knock on wood), but I’m more than a little afraid that if I say it out loud (or post it on the internet) then it’ll come true.  Rationally, I know this isn’t the case.  Saying or…

I’m in a bit of a funk. Ever since Boulder Field, things have been a little out of whack for me.  It started with my mental state.  Normally, the cycle is you get amped up for a race, run it, and then get a little depressed because your big race is now behind you.  I…