2023: Running, Coffee, and Writing

Happy New Year to my wonderful readers! I hope you all had a better holiday than we did. The short version is that things went downhill fast after Lookout Mountain, and not in the good downhill way. Both my wife and I came down with COVID, which meant we barely saw the family, and Joyce’s …

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Life, Trail Running, and Birthdays

When I left the house yesterday morning for a 20-mile trail run, it was cold and windy, raining, still dark out, and God only knew what shape the trail was going to be in. I’m guessing not many people would choose to begin their birthday this way. But I’m an ultrarunner, and thus certifiably bonkers, …

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Overachiever

I was 45 miles in at last Saturday’s Miakonda Trail Ultra, well after dark, and green glow sticks marked the borders of the curving dirt path through the trees. It looked pretty cool, but I was struggling with gut pain, and mindful appreciation of my surroundings had been replaced by a desire to tough it …

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Just One

Hill repeats. My favorite. Not. But there it was on my training calendar. Six 90-second intervals at effort level 8 (out of 10) on a hill with a 7 to 9 percent grade. Followed by six 45-second intervals at effort level 9. I’d already had a robust strength training session at Body Specs, so in …

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