It’s a dozen days after I DNF’d the Badger Mountain Challenge 55K. I knew I’d want to take time to recover, but I’m not liking the way my body feels right now. The first week, I walked most days the first week. I made it a point to get up from my desk at least once an hour and walk to the breakroom and back. I went on a short – but very fun – mountain bike ride the Friday after BMC. I got off to a good start on my recovery. Continue reading →

BMC50K was my first attempt at an ultramarathon. And it was my first DNF. I am not ashamed of choosing to quit when I did.

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This Saturday is the day. I’m as ready as I can be. Continue reading →

This past weekend was difficult. I had a minor epiphany on Sunday, and that may prove to be the thing that saves me. Continue reading →

My run last weekend made me realize it was time for new trail runners. My original Lone Peaks only have a little over 200 miles on them, but since the foot didn’t bother me during ten miles the next day wearing different shoes, I knew it was time for shoes. Continue reading →

Week 18 was a very productive week. I ran 42 miles last week; I’m confident that’s the most I’ve ever run. (The training schedule called for 47, but I still think 42 is pretty good.) Continue reading →

I’ve been hesitant to write, because I don’t want every blog post to be a rehash of “OMG I’m so nervous I won’t be able to do this but I’m going to be optimistic and do my best.” Seriously, even if I’m the only one who’ll ever read this, I don’t want to keep writing that.

The sun is out today, which is a much-needed treat. Besides the ridiculous amount of snow and freezing rain we’ve had this winter, we also haven’t seen the sun as much as we usually do. I can handle the endless cold; endless cold, endless grey, endless “how is it possible there’s still snow on the ground in February?” combine to be too too much for me. There’s a reason I fell in love with the east side of the Cascade Curtain, and it has a LOT to do with our weather. 300 days of sunshine: that’s what I signed up for, not fog and grey skies and temperature inversions. Continue reading →

I haven’t gone for today’s run yet, but I’m taking the opportunity (while breakfast is settling) to write.

I ran yesterday; it was my first run in ten days. I’m still feeling the rhinovirus, but I believed I was ready to start training. I didn’t want to leap into this weekend’s workouts – 18 miles Saturday, 10 miles Sunday – without a test-run. I went for a run along the bike path in Pasco. The City plowed it a short while ago. (The section between the BNSF railroad bridge & Road 40 is the only cleared section.) It started snowing Thursday night, but I figured the snow would be light enough that I’d be able to run the bike path without trouble. Continue reading →

It sucked.

To start, I felt “off” most of the week. I chalked it up to a variety of reasons, the first being tiredness. I arrived home much later than anticipated last Sunday evening, which cut a few hours off my time in bed that night. Tuesday’s run was difficult, even though it was an easy run. I taught a class Tuesday night, which again cut into my sleep. Wednesday, I felt downright maudlin. Continue reading →

It blows my mind that I’m less than ten weeks away from the Badger Mountain Challenge. I’m not sure how much physical progress I’m making, but my brain has sure stepped it up. Continue reading →