Into The Wild(erness)

By the time you read this, we’ll already be gone.

For this if you’re new here.

My hopes are 1) to finish and 2) to not get gnawed upon by any black bears. Give me that, and we’ll consider it a success. I suspect Mae’s aspirations are somewhere along the same lines.

Expect lots of pictures upon our return.

No Place Like Home Trails

I could run these trails every day and never get tired of them. Actually, I have done just that some weeks.

Life has as many twists and turns and ups and downs as these paths, and the way we get through one is likely the way we get through the other.

New developments mandate a change in course. All professional matters beyond my control, of course. I can only control my approach and my perceptions of it all, and generally that will dictate what kind of shape I’ll be in at the other end.

There are times when you feel like you’re moving on momentum alone, almost like the wind is carrying you. Other times you feel like crawling or just laying down.

Most important is to take it all as parts of a complex process, and understand that we need lows to give the highs meaning.

And if, in the end, we can look back and say “God damn, what a ride” – we’ve probably done alright.

“I might not run tomorrow”

Photo borrowed from linked site.

In every interview I hear with Scott Jurek – he’s introduced as “probably the best Ultramarathoner of our time.” With all due respect (which is tons), we just might be entering a new time.

Just before dawn on Saturday Kyle Skaggs did what few runners thought possible. He finished the grueling Hardrock 100 Endurance Run in under 24 hours, setting a new record with a time of 23 hours, 23 minutes, 30 seconds. See results and video of finish here. “This is the performance of the year in ultra-running. Someone’s going to have to walk on water to top this” said his friend and fellow runner Nate McDowell.

+ Kyle Skaggs breaks Hardrock 100 CR by 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Happy Fourth from Up North

Fireworks in Leeland and my cousin’s kid with a sparkler.

Evidently there is a free WiFi here in the hotel, and evidently I found it.

Have been so busy with wedding stuff (read: sitting in a canoe, floating down the Platt River for 5 hours while drinking an endless flow of Budweiser with the other men in the wedding party) that I haven’t had a chance to do any running. Hopefully Pyramid Point tomorrow. Very hopefully. Happy 4th to all.