I don’t know how I’m going to do this. Me I’ve thought that before. I know I have. I get deep into a training cycle for a big race, and then I hit a point where everything goes to hell. Something that’s been working stops working. Social obligations keep interfering. Some part of my body… Continue reading My Fall-Apart Week(s)
Category: Training
Still Moving Forward
Well, I’ve done it. It’s one thing to talk about plans, and it’s another thing to commit to them. I’ve been talking about doing the 100K at Javelina Jundred this year, but up until yesterday, it was just talk. Now I’m registered, and it’s time to put my money (a pretty hefty race fee!) where my mouth… Continue reading Still Moving Forward
Double Run Day Fun-Day
We now interrupt your flow of angsty missed-race agonizing to talk about an entertaining thing I did last Saturday morning: two runs on opposite sides of the valley. Why? Because I felt like it, and I could!
Calming The Madness
You know what’s not good for your head? Working on a goal for several months and then not being able to achieve it. You know what’s worse? Not being able to even attempt it. I’m a patient guy. Not an “I can put up with anything indefinitely” kind of patient, but in a goal-oriented way.… Continue reading Calming The Madness
When the Wheels Fall Off in the Home Stretch
This was supposed to be a recap of the training for my first 50 mile race. It was going to be out at Monument Valley, where several of my friends were running the 50K. I was going to tell the story of how I found it, why I signed up for it, and what I learned… Continue reading When the Wheels Fall Off in the Home Stretch
Training for My First Ultramarathon: McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50K
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
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
Accurate Perception
“Today felt a little slow, even for me,” I said, as I sat down with the group at the end of this morning’s trail run. I ran the Lakefair Half Marathon in Olympia, Washington, last week when the wife and I were on vacation up in the area, and I ran it pretty hard (finished… Continue reading Accurate Perception
Training for the Phoenix Marathon
I’m going to summarize 2 months of training runs into a single post, so picture a movie-style training montage, but… at the end of it, I’m running slower than I did at the beginning. So kinda like a training montage run in reverse. It would be completely inaccurate to call it the story of me… Continue reading Training for the Phoenix Marathon