A 100-Mile Trifecta
The Wasatch 100 lottery gods looked upon me with kindness and favor yesterday, giving me another chance to run the sunny and steep ridges of the Utah's Wasatch Front. I've been itching to go back after my 2015 effort at the race ended early at mile 87 with a missed...
Is the Struggle Real?
It’s completely dark out, with only a fading quarter moon to accompany my headlight as I run uphill. The temperature is cold, but very reasonable for a Wyoming December morning. I try to keep my cadence rhythmic as my shoes bite into the hard snow crunch crunch crunch...
So Fresh
My fall break from running and training is over, and the sun is setting on 2017. Lottery season is well underway and races all over the west are selling out in a week—or less. I wasn't as lucky this year with the Hardrock lottery, but fortunately there are so many...
The Importance of Not Running
Some people like to go all in. I’m probably one of those people, most of the time anyways. I’ve never liked the idea of doing anything halfway, and often think of commitment like jumping across a raging, ice cold, boulder and log strewn creek. You don’t leap over that...
Hardrock 100
The first climb up Dives-Little Giant Pass (photo credit: iRunFar)As I stood at the starting line in Silverton, listening to the buzz of the crowd and media, and the nervous chatter of all the runners, I found myself surprisingly relaxed. Maybe relaxed isn’t the right...
My Road to Hardrock
About eight years ago I had this really ridiculous idea that I should sign up for one of those really long mountain races. You see, I just finished up a long and competitive college soccer career and was looking for a good challenge. I enjoyed spending a lot of time...
One Eye Looking Back, Two Looking Forward
All things have a beginning and an endUpon reflection, I'm certain that 2016 had to have been more than a year long. The first big change of the year was that I left my job as a social studies teacher on the Wind River Reservation and now I'm working as support staff...
Limping to the Start, Sprinting to the Finish: 2016 Never Summer 100K
Shin InjuryOn Monday, July 18th, I gave up on running the Never Summer 100K. Eight days before that during a big training weekend I decided to run up the unnamed peak adjacent to Roaring Fork Pass for some extra vert and altitude training. After all, the...
Putting it All Together: Scout Mountain Ultra Trail 100K
I've been fortunate to have some pretty good races the last year or so, but I've always left thinking I could have done more. Maybe I could have paced myself better, or hydrated better, or I could have been more patient, or not taken a wrong turn, or not had the...