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In recent weeks, I have been on two runs which, I suspect, having stood the test of time, will prove their indelibility. During one, I trotted along the local rail trail - clear, flat, wide, but still cocooned in trees with animals scurrying here and there - before plunging into a wooded section of singletrack trail whose curves followed those of the creek nearby. It
The Aid Station: Nutrition for Injury Rehabilitation
Being an athlete, you know that injuries are inevitable. Sooner or later we all get one. So, what happens to the body when you are injured and how should you amp up your recovery? How Does your body react when it is injured? When an area of the body is injured an inflammatory response is set off. Although, inflammation is a crucial part of the body's natural
The Twisting Branch Part 3
“Ultrarunning is 10% physical and 90% mental.” How often have you heard that maxim? I recently heard a different interpretation: Rob Bell put it that sport is still 90% physical, but the 10% mental component is the key that unlocks the other 90%. Dr. Bell is Certified Mental Performance Consultant, a qualification registered with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Even for an engineer like
The Way Down
You’re at a holiday party, work, the grocery store, the DMV. You’re chatting with someone and they look at you as if you’ve just sprouted neon purple antennae. Their eyes pop with a mixture of fascination, disbelief, and a dash of concern. Your shy smile, your shrug, are already prepped for their next breathless statement. And there it is. They open their mouth and the
The Twisting Branch Part 2
This is the second in a series of posts by Trails Collective athlete Clem Chung. Click here for Part 1. Now that fall is here, these days it’s so hard to get out of bed in the mornings. The weather is getting cooler, and run before work requires the use of lights and reflective gear. The biggest thing stopping me going out for a run at
The Aid Station: The Role of Iron In Athletes
A common question I get associated with an athlete’s poor race performance is, “Should I get my iron checked”? What makes iron such an important player in an athlete’s performance to make us want to get our levels checked and run out to buy iron supplements? Why is iron so important to runners? “Hemoglobin is a protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen to your
Join us for 4 full seasons of adventure in North Conway New Hampshire!
Welcome to North Conway, New Hampshire! Situated in the shadow of 700,000 acres of protected land in the White Mountain National Forest which just so happens to include the highest peak in the North East in Mt. Washington. While the mountains tend to be the feature most taken away from the area, we spoke with some locals to get the real dirt on how to
Heroes
Late last summer and into the fall, when the repercussions of the fracture which I had suffered in spring continued to stretch on, the feeling I remember most vividly was one of grasping desperation. I found the cruel bombardment, noisy and forceful, which I had been prepared to hunker down and absorb for several months, to be unceasing. Trapped in the cramped, dark space of
Social Media and My Running
After years of being a private runner, running solely for my own purpose, in 2020 I suddenly found myself in the position of Brand Ambassador. I applied to represent companies I believed in, not really believing that I would be selected. Well, selected I was, and my number of social media posts increased accordingly. The many posts I posted about all things running as Brand
The Twisting Branch Part 1
The record shows that I finished the 2022 Twisted Branch Trail Run 100k in 19 hours, 18 minutes, and 48 seconds. In doing so, I qualified for the Western States Endurance Run lottery. I had achieved the one running goal I had set out at the beginning of the year. I had never before been singularly focused on one objective since I took up this sport
