8 Months in the Making I don’t think it was a formal goal when 2015 officially began, but somewhere real close to it, the idea of running a 50K started rolling around in my head. I had already signed up for the Phoenix Marathon, and over the course of 2014 had done a 15K, started… Continue reading Training for My First Ultramarathon: McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50K
Category: Trail Running
Half as Many Going Twice as Far: Ragnar Trail Ultra 2015
Last weekend, I ran my second Ragnar Trail Relay! As before, it was on the trails out at McDowell Mountain Park. I talk a lot about my first Ragnar Trail Relay—a lot of the posts on this site reference it in one way or another—but there’s a reason for that. It planted so many important seeds of my… Continue reading Half as Many Going Twice as Far: Ragnar Trail Ultra 2015
Javelina Jangover 2015: How I Accidentally Learned How to Be An Ultramarathoner
I ran the Javelina Jangover (25K) out at McDowell Mountain Park this year, and I enjoyed it. It’s one of Aravaipa Running’s series of Insomniac summer night races. It was hot, as you’d expect, but there were rainstorms moving around us to the north and east, and that helped bring the temperature down a bit… Continue reading Javelina Jangover 2015: How I Accidentally Learned How to Be An Ultramarathoner
Pemberton Loop: Long and Hot
Last weekend was the hottest on record in Arizona. Friday hit 117º, breaking the previous record for the day (8/14) by four degrees. Saturday hit 115º, breaking the previous record by three degrees. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights all recorded 93º as the low temperature, breaking the previous records of warmest low for all three… Continue reading Pemberton Loop: Long and Hot
Pass Mountain Trail: A Rematch
I am NOT coming back here again. I’m starting to feel like I could retire if I had a dollar for every time I said that and turned out to be wrong. This time it was about Pass Mountain Trail out at Usery Park. Once upon a time, I was a mountain biker. For a… Continue reading Pass Mountain Trail: A Rematch
Vertigo Trail Race: One Year of Trail Running
“I’ve been running far enough that I should be able to handle a 10k without too much trouble.” I forget exactly how it went in my mind, but it was something like that. It was what I was thinking when I signed up to run Vertigo in July of 2014. Vertigo, run out at White Tank Mountain… Continue reading Vertigo Trail Race: One Year of Trail Running
Running and Sleeping in the Desert With Strangers: Ragnar Trail, AZ
Say What? Last weekend (November 7-8), I did something called a Ragnar Trail Relay. I’ve posted a couple of things about it on Facebook, but largely without explanation, so I think most of the people seeing it probably didn’t/don’t know exactly what I was talking about.