Trip, race & hunt reports
If there is such a thing, last year I may have run too much: 4,029 miles and 456,000 vertical feet of climbing, with two road marathons and two 100-mile trail ultras — Boston, Bighorn, UTMB, and Houston. That’s an average of 11 miles and 1,250 vertical feet of climbing per day. While I’m not as…
After a solid but underwhelming performance at UTMB last September, I was forced to ponder the future of my running. I was emotional fatigued from three years of intense training, and was lacking an obvious or compelling “why” to sustain it. But at 36 years-old, I recognized that it’d be easier (and probably more fruitful)…
This post is part of a long-running series that I publish after a big race or trip. It’s purpose is to capture important and helpful — but easily forgettable, perhaps — details that would be helpful to me on a second attempt, or to someone on their first. Numbers and data 2018 results Download a…
On Sunday I’m racing the Houston Marathon. The gun fires at 7 AM CST, and I should be done about 2.5 hours later. Track the race live. I’m bib 1513. At a minimum, I’d like to improve upon my current PR, set last year at the Boston Marathon, in 2:32:01. Workouts suggest that I’m not…
Trip Data Dates: Tuesday, August 29th to Saturday, September 2nd, 2017 Route: Wind River High Route, Loop 4 Weather: Temperature 60’s to 70’s, rained only one day, otherwise sunny and pleasant Distance: 43 miles Time: 4.5 days Trailhead: Elkhart Park Passes: Angel Pass, Douglas Lake Pass, Alpine Lakes Pass, Indian Pass Background Chris Barrett, Paul…
I first met Ken Oelkers in March 2005, seven months into the Sea-to-Sea Route. His beloved Superior Hiking Trail was buried under feet of snow, and he understandably was looking for an excuse to keep him out of the house and close to the trail after a long winter in Silver Bay, Minnesota, a small blue-collar…
I hunt just a few days each year, and don’t invest significant time or thought during the long period in between. Among a few smaller things, here are some takeaways and learned lessons that I want to incorporate into our 2018 plans: Hunting The best advice we received on hunting strategy was from a Craig…
This was my fifth year of elk hunting, and finally I may be getting the hang of it. While I’m pleased that my chest freezer is full again (thanks to a four-point bull that mistakenly skylined himself at 2:30 in the afternoon, more details below), I’m perhaps happier with other things that went right. Specifically,…
If you plan to race UTMB — or use the course as a training camp — and if you’re a data dork like me, the resources on this page will be useful in your preparations: Official results At the UTMB website, official results are available for each year, back to 2003. The more recent years include…
Just twelve hours after finishing UTMB in Chamonix, Amanda and I split for the second half of our vacation, in Provence, hence the delay in post-UTMB coverage. For my sake, I hope to post it all this week before my guided trips start on Sunday and my recollection fades. I placed 34th at UTMB, with…