There is so much to say about racing, about competitiveness, that I'm not sure one post is up to the task. My own feelings about starting lines, which are somehow far harder to reach than finish lines, are oddly complicated. The simplest way to say it is that I only ever race to train. I... Continue Reading →
Sometimes it's better not to have a partner or a game. Sometimes it's better just to get in your groove and work, and that's what the classic Suffer Club AMRAP (As Many Reps as Possible) is about. Head down. One set after another until we run out of time. 10 x Stiff Leg Deadlift into... Continue Reading →
January gets rough, not only because we're working out in the cold and darkness, but also because we're a little location limited. Running in the dark gets treacherous, especially when you're doing hill repeats or stair work. I told the Suffer Clubbers to bring headlamps for this one, because we needed to escape the lighted... 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 →
The New Year. Yuck. The holiday hangover from too much of everything. Good intentions. Dark mornings. The cold. It's a good goddamned thing all these Suffer Clubbers show up with smiles on their faces, or else I'd slap the snooze button like it owed me some money. This one focuses on the big muscles, shoulders,... Continue Reading →
We didn't have to do it this way, the alarm set for dark o'clock, headlamps, a pack for extras. Straight up a hillside from the parking lot, all of us living in the narrow, bright cone of our lamps, scanning the slope for trees with blazes on them. Cold, but as we climb we warm... Continue Reading →
It's the solstice. The shortest day of the year. Can metaphors be too apt? Is darkness as a literary device too far beyond cliche'? Probably and probably, but it's Tuesday, and darkness is what makes today today. Meghna and I were driving to a trailhead this morning, both of us a little unclear about where... Continue Reading →
I woke up before the alarm, as I mostly do these days, and wondered how much snow had fallen in the night. The ground was dry when I went to bed, but by the time I dragged myself downstairs to push the button on the coffee maker there was something close to a foot collected... Continue Reading →
When you've been suffering as long as we have, the biggest obstacle is boredom, so we end up doing some pretty goofy shit just to stay interested. I once designed a whole workout with an airport theme that included snaking your way through baggage check, taxiing a runway, taking off, landing, etc. So naturally, we... Continue Reading →
From where we stand on the hill, power lines stretch away into the distance, poles at semi-regular intervals, and those poles form a sort of ladder that runs a quarter mile up the steep, the perfect sort of ladder for a bunch of eager Sufferers to huff and puff up and down. I called this... Continue Reading →
