Hungry for More
Being a competitive athlete can sometimes feel like being at a feast with a bottomless stomach—you eat and eat, gorging yourself on a delectable and rich meal—but never become full or satisfied. The 2021 season was delicious for me with four podium finishes and one FKT, but has left me oddly hungry for more. I have finished eleven 100-mile races now (ten in the Rocky Mountains), and although I love that distance and terrain, perhaps I have become a bit too comfortable with it. Perhaps I have an appetite to pursue some new in different challenges in 2022.
In my comfort zone
I have been a competitive athlete my entire life and have always been drawn to the big match, game, or race—competition often brings out our best performances and characteristics.. The past two years I have had ambitions of racing internationally, but with uncertainty surrounding Covid I ended up playing it safe in 2021 with a fun domestic schedule that included Quad Rock 50 in May, Scout Mountain 100 in June, and High Lonesome 100 in July, and Run the Red 50K in September. Even with three big mountain ultras in three months this schedule always felt doable, in hindsight perhaps too much in my comfort zone as well.
Hot miles are the norm at Scout Mountain 100
In contrast to 2019, the unknowns and newness of racing internationally at the Lavaredo Ultra, in legendary Italian Dolomites, brought urgency to training. Even in 2020 when racing was non-existent, I found mystery and challenge in my backyard Wind River Range. I regularly lost sleep over the anticipation and preparation for the Wind River High Route—a line that is so outrageous to do in one push that it still feels like a dream. I trained hard for my 2021 race schedule, and am proud of three 2nd place finishes and a win, but to get the best out of myself in 2022 it is going to take some changes, some risk, and some uncertainty to find that fullness I am looking for.
Doing my thing at High Lonesome 100
How to spice things up in 2022 then? While I’m still scheming an adventure or two that will push me well outside of my comfort zone, starting the year at international races, with top level competition, on legitimately steep and rugged terrain should do the trick. My focus for the first part of the year will be Transgrancanaria 129k (6700m+) in March and Lavaredo Ultra 120k (5800m+) in June. TGC is a bucket list race that checks all the boxes for me, and after an extremely disappointing DNF at Lavaredo in 2019 I have been agonizing about going back. The international aspect of these races is a huge draw for me as I absolutely love being immersed in other cultures and seeing different parts of the world. As someone who has had roommates from around the world and taught high school on the Wind River Reservation, I actually enjoy being the minority, the one who is a bit of an outsider and has a lot of learning to do. After all, challenging our comfort zone is where we learn and grow.
Teton mountain running in new Scarpa and Black Diamond gear. Photo: Fredrik Marmsater
Technical and long distance mountain running requires very specific products and equipment to help you be safe and successful. Also a big change for 2022 are some new partnerships: I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be working with the amazing people at Scarpa and Black Diamond. Both companies have their heart and soul in the mountains, and have everything I need to perform at my best in the environments that I love so dearly. I’ll write more about this in the future, but I can hardly wait to share how these companies innovations are already helping me reach new heights in my mountain running.
All of these changes for 2022 are about becoming the best version of myself as a person and an athlete. Great athletic performance does not happen unless we are hungry, ambitious, and nudged out of our comfort zone. After all, you don’t win races by hoping that your competition does poorly; you win races by elevating your own performance.
