My Father died today. I’m not sure if I killed him or if he took his own life by a suicide that took nearly thirty years.
Everyone holds an idea of what a father should be in their heart and mind. Some are fortunate enough to get it, but everyone else is left scrambling. What is fatherhood? What makes a man? What does it mean to be a father? What does it mean to support another’s life until they can function as an adult?
It takes a lot to write a novel and I write my own pain into my work. As I said recently, it’s been a long week and you’re getting the darker side of my writing these days. Why? Because this blog sometimes functions as my diary and repository of all my thoughts. Unfortunately for you, its been a tough week. So, enjoy what is probably fiction; maybe its not. Either way, this has rattled around in my brain since Thursday.
After the Race: My twentieth and, likely, the final post in the Confessions from the Trail series! I started this series as a way to pull back the curtain and show people a sport that many will never even attempt. It’s been a long road and I’ve enjoyed having a platform to talk about a sport I love. But now the race is run and it’s time to close this series out by answering one last question: “What do you do after the race?”
Confession from the Trail: Training and the COVID Rollercoaster
I just plain have terrible luck with Valentine’s Day. It should come as no surprise that Valentine’s Day 2021 started as a trail run and ended in the ER.
Confession from the Trail: Failure and the Doldrums
Hello and welcome to the doldrums. With only five weeks to go until the Mississippi 50, I’ve hit that horrible intersection of “I’ve come so far” and “I still have so far to go.”
Confession from the Trail: Taper Tantrums
My first taper week of the season starts today and like all taper weeks, I’m going to apologize to my spouse upfront. Because, dear friends, taper week is a bastard and I will be a right bastard too.
Taper week is well known to any endurance athlete. Whether you’re a runner, cyclist, triathlete, or crazy ultramarathoner, it’s wise to use the week before a race to let your body catch up, rest up, and fuel up so you’re at your peak strength and endurance on race day.
Confession from the Trail: ‘Tis the Season (For Illness)
Season’s greetings from my couch. Like many this time of year, I’m sick. Unfortunately for me, I’m also supposed to race in two weeks and seriously, body? THIS IS NOT THE TIME! But it was also somewhat inevitable… This post is all about getting sick during a training cycle. I’ll be giving you some insight into why it seems to happen so often so close to race day, help you decide if you should keep training or not, and help settle your fears (and mine) about whether you can race.
Confession from the Trail: Nutrition
Over the last ten years I’ve run through thick and thin but I’m finally finding the best balance of the two. The answers to questions about my nutrition for ultramarathons
I had many misconceptions about how my first month as a published novelist would go. It didn’t go how I expected so why not peel back the curtain and write about it?
Confession from the Trail: Pre-Race Traditions
One of the questions I fielded as I started talking ultramarathons on this blog was, “What pre-race traditions do you have?” And I love this question because each person’s pre-race traditions are unique and hold a special meaning or purpose.