Earlier this year, I had planned on racing the 50 miler Deadman Peaks course and had been structuring my training with that focus in mind. Having done the Deadman 50M in 2015, I felt like I had a good idea of what the course required of me. Namely, mostly flat[…]
Read More »In 2009, I ran the Chicago Marathon as my first marathon. It went poorly. In 2010, I ran the Chicago marathon as my second marathon. It went poorly. Seven years later, I finally ran a decent road marathon! The two Chicago marathons, like two of my Jemez races, were a[…]
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For the second half of 2016, and the beginning of this year, I wasn’t sure when I’d register for another ultramarathon. I felt beat down after DNFing at the Jemez 50M race again for the second time in three years and was physically and mentally exhausted. From June 2016 until[…]
Read More »or: The Race of Ill Omens. Prior to last year’s Cedro Peak 45k, things didn’t proceed smoothly for me. This year my Jeep’s transmission died as we were driving to the race. I’m not a superstitious person or a believer in omens though, and the rest of the day went[…]
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After spending any significant amount of time in the mountains, it becomes obvious that personal fitness and training are only a few of the many factors that determine success. Trail-running in general, and mountain courses specifically, are not sterile, precise environments. Unforeseen obstacles can derail the most well-planned and executed[…]
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I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the Cedro Peak 45k this past weekend. I had sampled part of the course (or so I thought), and wasn’t particularly enamored with it. I also wasn’t sure about my own fitness. I’ve been putting in lots of 20 miler long runs and B2B weekends recently, so in theory I should have felt well-prepared for 45k (27.9 miles) of running, but pre-race doubts aren’t an unusual feeling for me.
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In the months leading up to the race, the term slickrock conjured up images of trail-running beauty. I had imagined myself gracefully gliding over said terrain, months of hard training paying off in the form of a confidence-building, high-placing finish time. I had not pictured myself slapping my feet down[…]
Read More »“A race on my home trails? Piece of cake.” That was my thought going into the race. It didn’t quite turn out to be true. Like most trail races, the start of the Dirty Half was fairly informal. The group of 80-90 runners just kind of huddled around the base[…]
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