running

One of the reasons I sign up to both enjoy and suffer through ultra-marathons is for the experience of sheer adventure. The nature. The people. The camaraderie of the trail running community. Another more personal reason: ultra-marathons provide excellent opportunities to get to know myself at deeper levels. I intended to finish the 62 miles of this race on very little training. While I only made it through half the race, I left with far more valuable lessons than I would have had I finished....

I started running again recently. After taking a solid eight month break after successfully running my first 100 miler last November I no longer felt great in my body. And I felt my thought patterns sliding back into a time in my twenties where I was surviving through life rather than fully living. No thank you. I don’t care much about surviving by itself. That shit is soul-suckingly boring. Life is for the living....

I’ve been in a mental funk the past few days and was hoping things would improve on my drive out to Huntsville State Park yesterday. Things didn’t pick up for me mentally until I set foot on the trail, albeit slowly. As much as I wanted to be completely in service to everybody passing through the #Damnation aid station for Rocky Raccoon, I wasn’t. Not at first anyway. I put on a show, yes....

Out the door at 9:22pm. Short running shorts. Black socks. Black shoes. Garmin. It’s nice out. The heat and humidity have been oppressive for several days, so this is a huge relief. What a perfect time to run. A few minutes into the night and away from a neighborhood full of trees, the sky is in full view. The landscape is full of spirited clouds with a backdrop of vivid yet dulling pastels....

I’ve been wanting to run a 5k in less than 20 minutes since I started running over 6 years ago. Admittedly the last few years have been sparse - probably due to the demands of my four year old daughter. But she’s getting a bit more independent these days and I have a bit more time to get back into running. ...

A little over five years ago I was at a friend’s Christmas party and heard about a guy there who had just completed a race at the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), climbing up the stairwell all the way to the top. It was one of the most intriguing things ever. I had to talk to him. I had to learn more. ...