Motivation – Vamonos Baby!

Western States 100

This summer I managed to finish the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run in 29:43:16, less than 17 minutes before the 30-hour mandatory cutoff. Clearly, a close run thing. Here are my thoughts on the race and advice for those who get a chance to run in the future.

Be Prepared

With three kids in scouts, we spend a lot of time in the outdoors learning life skills through experience. One of the best things about the scouting method is that us parents are encouraged to let the scouts fail. Forget your sleeping bag once and you will remember it next time. This is learning toContinue reading “Be Prepared”

Chilling Out About Middle School

For those without little kids, it may come as a surprise to learn that much has changed when it comes to school choice. With a current 7th grader and 5th grader, among others, I have learned that going to middle school is no longer “just go the middle school.” Instead, students in our district mayContinue reading “Chilling Out About Middle School”

The Hard Way

Modernity has created comfortable pitfalls that prevent most of us from reaching our potential. Most of us train in the expensive, complex, and easy way. Only a minority really trains the simple, hard way. What do I mean? I mean in every discipline only a small proportion of amateur athletes, usually the highest performers, trainContinue reading “The Hard Way”

Meditation

A lot has changed in a few weeks. We all have unanswerable questions. What will happen? When will the lock down end? Will we have jobs and be able to support our families in a few months? We don’t know. What we do know is that the world will go on. The sand in theContinue reading “Meditation”

Inflation Crisis

Short get off my lawn post. My wife bought a display rack to hang all our old race finisher medals. My task was to mount it near the laundry room. For a few years we tried turning old race medals into Christmas ornaments, but each season the branches drooped more and more. Today we hadContinue reading “Inflation Crisis”

Put down the phone and nobody gets hurt

I have a problem. I spend way too much time with my phone. So, nothing I write here is a judgment of anyone. My house is made of glass. What I want to talk about is the problem of distraction and why phones specifically impair training. I discovered this while lifting. My practice had generallyContinue reading “Put down the phone and nobody gets hurt”

Finding your grasshopper

This week I attended funeral for a family friend who passed away after a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 69, had a full family life, owned and ran her own business, was an involved citizen and a devoted member of her church. She dealt with impending death with courage and grace, they wayContinue reading “Finding your grasshopper”

Inspiration

At almost every race I get inspired by somebody. But rarely is it the race winner. Its humbling to see elites rolling through 100 miles at 8 to 10 minutes per mile. Its crazy to think about the pace of a 2-hour marathon (I think I can hold it for about 200 meters). I respectContinue reading “Inspiration”