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Confessions from the Trail: Taper Tantrums
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.
Confessions from the Trail: ‘Tis the Season (For Illness)
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.
Confessions from the Trail: Race Weight
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
Pantheon Release – One Month as a Published Novelist
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?
Confessions from the Trail: Being Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Confession from the Trail: Being Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable. Breaking your characters with realism: The intersection of ultramarathons and writing fiction.
A good character is one who is not only told “no,” but “hell no,” then kicked in the teeth for good measure. They’re the character we root for when we watched them come to the brink and faced with the choice to accept the inevitable yet rise against all odds. And that breaking is where ultramarathons and fiction writing intersect. I love the adage, “write what you know.” Dear readers, let me tell you, I know what it’s like to be broken. To rise again. To stare into the void, see the eyes that stare back, and tell them to fuck off. And hot damn, when I put it into my writing, it’s some powerful stuff.
Confessions from the Trail: Welcome to the Pain Cave
Confession from the Trail: Welcome to the Pain Cave – What It’s Like to Run for Hours
Pulling from the list of questions about ultras again, here is a great one: “What’s it like to run for so long?” The answer is different for every person, but for me (and many others), it’s a period of highs and lows as well as trips into what we call “the pain cave.” And at the end, you have something you have truly earned.
Confessions from the Trail: Pre-Race Traditions
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.
Welcome to the unreal?
Unlike many of my other posts, which go through a rigorous review and proofreading process, this is a little more stream of consciousness.
Why?
My paperback released for pre-sales today. And I was not emotionally prepared for the response.
Confessions from the Trail: Nutrition
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
Confessions from the Trail: Close Encounters of the Critter Kind!
Confession from the Trail: Close Encounters of the Critter Kind!
Dogs and spiders and bears, oh my! It’s always something! But if you’re wondering what kind of track you’re seeing, just make sure it’s not a tank track first.