The Hidden Cost of Our Running Gear
Introduction As trail runners, we view ourselves as stewards of the Earth, spending countless hours immersed in nature, running through desert, woodland, coastlines, and mountains. We are one with the natural world around us. Indeed, we comprise a critical fabric in the web of nature, though too often in the Global North (includes North America and Europe), we tend to forget that through our choices, we
Winterize Your Run!
It’s still dark and you hear the wind howling outside your window. As you crawl deeper under the covers, you suddenly regret not taking advantage of that Black Friday treadmill sale a few weeks ago. Or the Cyber Monday sale that followed. Even with your eyes closed, you know the snow is blowing sideways at that moment. The forecast for this morning calls for temperatures
Rainbow Blazes
I’d already made use of a downed tree to ford a flooded section of trail, then gotten mauled by a set of 6x2 minute hill repeats. It was the first time I had ever sandwiched a workout inside of a steadier effort rather than just the typical warmup and cool down format. On top of that, this was Sunday - long run day - and
The Twisting Branch Part 7
As I was chatting with Addie Bracy on our second mental performance coaching session, after we had our conversation about my complicated relationship with running these past few months, there was a little time left over for me to turn the tables and ask her some questions of my own. I thought it might be interesting or even useful for anyone reading about my journey,
The Twisting Branch Part 6
The first time I met with mental performance coach Addie Bracy, it had been a month since I finished Twisted Branch. I had planned some down time, or more correctly, I deliberately didn’t want to commit to anything for the remainder of the year. I toyed with the idea of doing a solo 135-mile endurance run this fall to raise money for a local charity
The Twisting Branch Part 5
The e-mail came through at 12:31 pm. This meant I had been racing Twisted Branch for 6.5 hours. Of course, I didn’t read it until 12 hours later, as my crew chief Keith was driving us back to his place where we would crash for the night. I don’t know how exhausted I was in that moment. I didn’t feel angry or hurt by what it
The Twisting Branch Part 4
Leave it to me to get four parts into this blog before even giving the race report! This is what I wrote on social media in the immediate aftermath, and though I spent some time trying to find what was authentic within me, I’m not fully bought into the narrative I spoke at the time. If I had to write a race report from scratch
If the Shoe Fits…
So many of us find bliss on the trails, and we spend many hours traveling on our own two feet. Our feet are the first point of contact between the ground and our state of euphoria, so naturally it becomes important to consider which shoes you select to carry you on your adventures. When we see other runners who we admire, we may be curious to
Changing Form
The new year, and winter more broadly, is a season for rest, reflection, and rejuvenation. Time slips by quietly, and so turning the calendar provides a tangible milestone for its passage. Such a milestone accentuates the changes that have taken place over the course of one, five, or ten years, and sometimes, more painfully, the ones that have not. Perhaps the lurking ghost of a
Shifting Seasons and Letting Go
I made the decision to wrap up my racing season after running 50 miles at Virgil Crest in early September. I felt complete having successfully mastered that course and having placed second in my GP. Even though I continued to get stronger, I had gradually started to feel a little worn from a season filled with “firsts,” so I made the decision to withdraw from
