I have this entirely mistaken idea that at some point in any workout you tip over from simply maintaining your fitness to building it. A twenty minute run stokes the fire. A forty minute run throws another log on. A two-hour run stacks the woodpile and opens the flue. The problem with this paradigm is... Continue Reading →
This is just typical. I'm laying here on the couch. taking a day off. Gray clouds scud across the sky intermittently dropping rain. The TV chatters in the other room, and I have maps up, scrawling routes from here to there, backing up, rerouting, trying to find something new. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I want... Continue Reading →
I don't even know what the distance is. Maybe ten miles. On most runs, I don't bring food. Outside of summertime, I don't even bring water. But I think probably at that ten mile mark, both become necessary for positive outcomes. And unlike on the bike, where multiple hours of exertion of fairly normal, heavier... Continue Reading →
I signed myself up for some events, a 25k trail run, a 30 mile day, and a 50k race later in the year. That's a lot more commitments than I normally make, but I know that if I want to do big things, I have to put myself on the hook. I have to be... Continue Reading →
Relentlessness and consistency are strange cousins. One is high stress and all action. The other is measured and resolute. They mean the same thing, Jekyll and Hyde, addiction and devotion, obsession and love. When I am piling up miles, it can feel like feeding a beast that will never be full. I have goals. Those... Continue Reading →
I got called a mother fucker during this workout. By my wife. So, draw what conclusions you will. This one is best on a basketball court, but you could mark a space with cones and get the same effect. We lined up on one sideline and worked back and forth for many of the exercises... Continue Reading →
These are the things bothering me. These are also the things I am doing nothing about. I don't have to look very hard to find things I should be doing, things I know will improve my life, but as always and as ever, doing these things, no matter how objectively easy they are to do,... Continue Reading →
I can feel the cold on my skin. It's a sensation let's say, but neither pleasant nor unpleasant. It's not keeping me from anything. I'd describe it as a sort of buzz, a little menthol, a little electric. I can live with it. In fact, I can live with a lot of it. Maybe it... Continue Reading →
It's like I don't know what I'm doing. Meghna gave me a No Days Off calendar, and as simple as that, I've pushed myself to run/ride/workout every day. Yesterday, while thoroughly enjoying my outdoor activities, I hit a wall. As a result, I lay on the couch most of the day. Brain dead. I drank... Continue Reading →
When I'm tired, I get quiet. Sometimes I don't even know I'm tired until I realize my eyes are down, fully occupied with reading the line of the trail, and I haven't said a word in more than a handful of minutes. "How are you doing?" a friend asks. That's another clue. The alarm shook... Continue Reading →
