Did anyone really look cool in middle school? I mean, besides the cool kids.

Middle School Cross Country. Wearing Umbros and a bad haircut circa 1993.

Somewhere around 12 years old is when I started telling people I wanted to run a marathon by the time I turned 30.

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Marin Ultra Challenge 2016 Race Report

In theory, cucumber mint flavored Gu sounds refreshing, like it would be a wonderful break from all of the sweet and salty stuff late in the race. In reality, it's kind of weird and gross. Do not recommend. What a day in the Headlands it was! Last year, conditions were near perfect, and I had a near perfect race. This year, El Nino raged, and the wind actually blew me over . FUN! Up and down. Repeat. I'm working toward my first 100k in May, so it was important to feel like I could run a smart 50k with no issues because I should be able to run a smart 50k with no issues and not even think about how a 100k is twice as far. The Beginning. Everything's wonderful. The start and finish had been changed from Fort Baker to Rodeo Beach because of the rain. It was a dark start at 6am, but dawn wasn't far off. I opted for no headlamp. We did two Hill 88 loops as the sun rose before sailing down to Tennessee Valley under what I'd call a heavy dri...

Marin Ultra Challenge Race Report - 4 oz of Mountain Dew Once Every 15 Years Shouldn't Kill Me

In spring of 2013 I ran Way Too Cool, a 50k with under 5,000 ft in elevation gain in 6:39:34. In spring of 2014 I ran it in 6:39:28...six seconds faster. How dumb is that. What had I actually been doing with my life to make zero progress in the time span of a year. This past December of 2014 I ran The North Face Endurance Challenge, a more challenging 50k course in the Marin Headlands with about 7,000 ft in elevation gain with a goal time of 7 hours. I finished feeling good in 7:00:40. I have one goal for 2015. I want to train smarter and run faster. Rather than do the Way Too Cool 50k/American River 50m NorCal spring combo this year, I got into the Lake Sonoma 50 miler, and the Marin Ultra Challenge fell during the right weekend in my training plan. I was shooting for six and a half hours. It would be a 50k PR, and 30 minutes faster than I had run three months previously out on these trails. I wanted out of whatever rut my running had ...

Dipsea 2016, BACK AT IT AGAIN

Think back to when you were a kid. Think about pedaling your bike as fast as you could pedal or running through the grass as hard as you could run. Think about how you pushed yourself to the limit, heart pounding, chest heaving, for no real reason, just because you felt like blasting it out. Think about when you felt free in your body, before you knew about injuries or training plans or being conservative in the early miles. That is how I felt going into my 3rd Dipsea race - ignorant to danger and prepared to go all out. From the sound of the whistle signaling the start for my group, which is about to join the 43 other groups that had already started the race, I didn't hold anything back. The spirit of the Dipsea is to never let off the gas and floor it as often as possible. Through downtown and then into the shade of Old Mill Park, we race toward the three flights of six hundred and seventy something stairs that make up the first half mile. As our group begins to catch up to...

Climbs and Crossings

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