Category: Race Reports

2016 Infinitus 88k: My almost first time DNF

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It was Dark:Thirty. I was somewhere climbing up the Mt. Moosalamoo Trail in Vermont, about 45-ish miles into The Endurance Society’s Infinitus 88k-ish race. Before I started this climb, the nice chap at the aid station informed me, “Just 2.5 miles to the summit of Mt. Moosalmoo!” He was so cheery. I was so dirty. He said that as if those 2.5 miles were regular old road miles, and not Endurance Society FUBARed trail miles. I knew better. I knew those 2.5 miles, while sounding so short and swift, would be long and tortuous. As I climbed this, amidst rocks and …

It Takes An Anvillage: 2016 Florida Double Anvil Race Report

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“3…2…1…Go!” “Is that the start?” I overheard one of my fellow racers ask. Yup.  I put my face in the blackest water I’ve ever swum and began my second go-round at the Florida Double Anvil, which is a double iron-distance event featuring 281.2 miles broken into a 4.8 mile swim, a 224 mile bike, and a 52.4 mile run. Each of these distances are completed in a series of laps: 12 laps for the swim, 37 laps for the bike, and 26 laps for the run. After all of this lapping, there are multiple repeats of food and sleep. This race …

Attitude of Gratitude: 2015 Javelina Jundred Race Report

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[This post is my 2015 Javelina Jundred race report which is the narrative of my experience for this race. If you are looking for a detailed course overview that will be posted separately.] “It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” ~ Eckhart Tolle Gratitude. If I only had one word, that would be the one to summarize my first 100 mile race. I’ve raced many times, and had many great experiences. Even still, there are a precious few races that have made me feel the way I feel now. Grateful. Joyful. Peaceful. I have …

I can’t get no satisfaction: Labor Pain 12 Hour Endurance Trail Run Race Report

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I am rarely, if ever, completely satisfied by a race result–or training session. Even for the races that seem to go pretty well, it usually only takes me a good night’s sleep to start picking apart what I need to do better, how I can improve, and what I did “wrong.” The Labor Pain 12 Hour Endurance Trail Run was no different than any other race in this regard. I selected this race as my primary prep race for the Javelina Jundred, which will be my first 100 mile race on October 31, 2015. G.U.L.P. My plan was to approach this …

This Race in This Place: 2015 Challenge Atlantic City Race Report

[Note: This report features my thoughts on my experience at Challenge Atlantic City. If you are looking for a course overview, that will be coming soon. Please sign up for email updates (to the right).] I don’t load up my race calendar with a ton of races, and every race I do has a reason. I had two primary reasons to do Challenge Atlantic City. First, it’s a hometown long-course race, and I would be able to share the course with so many of the good people that surround me. While most people in North America are getting into the heart …

What I Learned From a Return to Sprint Triathlon

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I like to talk a big game about “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” and “the magic happens outside of your comfort zone” and all the related platitudes of that ilk. But, do I walk that talk? While I won’t say I’ve completely mastered being comfortable with the discomfort of endurance pain, I know I can take a long course licking and keep on ticking. My nickname isn’t Midget Tank for no reason. What I’m not very good at – not good even a little bit – is anything at or even near my threshold. The so-called “red-line.” No, I much …

Force of Nature, Power of Experience: Running Rim to Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon

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“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. I gingerly peered over the side of the North Kaibab trail, which runs from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon down (about 5,600 feet down) to the Colorado River. As I looked down, I saw the Grand Canyon jig and jag from millions of years of evolutionary change. I looked up and saw the cliffs reach upward to the sky, as if praising the sun and the clouds. And, there I was somewhere in the middle of this expanse, nothing but a molecular speck, clinging …

Wrapping Your Mind Around This Thing: 2015 Florida Double Anvil

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“Perseverance is not a long race. It is many short races one after the other.” ~Walter Elliot “So, do you have your mind wrapped around this thing?” John asked me a few days before the 2015 Florida Double Anvil (double iron-distance triathlon), which was held on March 6-7 in Tampa, Florida. I paused. He has never in all of the history of the things we’ve done asked me that question, which led me to question myself. Wait! Do I have my head wrapped around this “thing”?  “Um, I…uh, what do you mean? Do I have a race plan?” I asked. “Not a …

Patient Aggression: Reflection on the Year of the Plow Horse

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Little did I know a year ago, when I dubbed 2014 the “Year of the Plow Horse,” how much I would come to depend on the characteristics of the reliable ol’ plow horse to make it through some of the more challenging races I’ve done. The plow horse is a strong, sturdy animal. She has a lot of work to do, but she can’t rush through it and burn out. No! The plow horse must be patient as she pursues the goals for the day, the week, the month, the year. The plow horse has been uniquely bred with the intention to balance both speed and muscle, …

Persist, Persevere, Ho’omau: Ironman World Championship Race Report

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“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”                                                                                           ~Zig Ziglar The Journey is the Reward Now that the big day is a memory, I am struck by what seems like a (now) obvious truth: racing the Ironman World Championships in Kona has never been about the race …