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Month: November 2014

My Path to Ultrarunning – Part 29: Toughest Running Moments

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During my 30,000 miles of running between 2004-2014 there have been some very tough moments.  Much of these rough miles were self-induced, caused by being ill-prepared.  Other times were just due to unexpected events during races and adventures.  Tough times are part of the sport and hit us all.  The key is knowing how to overcome tough spots and working through the challenges to run another day.  This collection of short stories are some of the hard moments I ran into on the trails.

My Path to Ultrarunning – Part 28: Winter Training

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The temperature drops, frost falls, leaves cover the ground and the snow begins capping the mountain peaks above.  When I started running in 2004, it seemed like all the runners I knew would stop doing serious training for the winter months, taking a break. I had increased my fitness level and feared the impacts of stopping, going back to a sedentary life, so I just kept running and training year-round.  But living in the Mountain West required me to change my approach for the winter months.

My Path to Ultrarunning – Part 27: Peak Bagging

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Ultrarunners in the Mountain West likely also become peak baggers.  Those peaks stand high above and call runners who are fit enough to run and climb their slopes to the top.  Climbing to the tops of peaks never really was an interest to me in my earlier years.  I would get up to the top of peaks by car or ski lift, but never under my own power.  As a child I used to climb up “Y mountain” in Utah to the Y on the mountain slope. One day I went up as far as I could toward the top, but was stopped by difficult cliffs.  Peak bagging for me came decades later.