After dropping out at mile 24 last year, I had sworn I would never run the race again, but here I was, almost exactly a year later, on the start line of the Black Canyon 100K cold and excited and just a little bit scared. Two and a half weeks prior, our trip to New Zealand felt apart after a flight cancelation and, with it, my plans to run Tarawera 100K. After a night wondering…
A few years ago, when I ran Rabbit Peak for the first time, I called it the most challenging run or hike I’ve ever done. At 22 miles, it’s not big compared to most ultramarathons, yet it’s incredibly challenging with roughly 8,000 feet of elevation ascent (and an equal amount of descent), technical terrain, jumping cholla cactus, and a route that is determined more by sheer cliffs than by an navigable trail. Joe and Nicole…
In preparation for Cascade Crest 100 at the end of August, I’ve started incorporating higher volumes in my weekly training. While I was looking forward to a long solo run this weekend in San Diego, the appeal of running with others in Big Bear was too strong. So, like any sane person, I signed up for the race five days before and with a whole lot of mileage on my legs. After several weekends of…
As I sit here post-race, my legs propped up on a stool and a cold kombucha doing little to aid in reducing lactic acid build-up in my body, I can’t help but be slightly terrified at the prospect of running Zion 100-mile in three weeks. It will my first hundred. Part of the reason for my terror is because of the way my body currently feels (i.e., fatigued, stiff) and part of it is because…
“What are you doing?” I asked Nick as he patted my back on the second loop of the 50K, 3-loop course at the Born to Run Ultramarathons. “Just brushing down your hackles,” he replied with a laugh. ———————————- Three months earlier Nick had traveled down to Urique, Mexico to run the Ultra Caballo Blanco with the Tarahumara and other Mas Locos. I admitted my jealousy of his trip when he returned and I think he…