This hotel room was a good idea. It was Matt’s idea. He booked it the other night so we could be closer to the trailhead this morning, which saves us a couple hours of travel time…
It’s four o’clock in the morning. My alarm wakes me. Nope, wasn’t a mistake. I did, in fact, intentionally set this alarm. Fireworks kept me up longer than I wanted and certainly weren’t conducive to a good night’s sleep. Nevertheless, here we are: 4am and no time to hit snooze…
I’m off early from work this afternoon. I bused down to save time this morning, but it’s so gorgeous out. Traveling on foot is the only option on a day as lovely as this…
My phone’s alarm goes off. It’s 4:44am, another quiet, lonely morning at the farm. I miss Esprit. She’s in Seattle. I’m across the mountains in the middle of nowhere Eastern Washington…
Veering off the trail after a little ways, I duck into the woods. If I am to run any portion of this leg of the course, I will absolutely need to do something about this uncomfortable bowel situation. I’ll need to shed some weight…
Way back in November of 2017, I signed up for my first fifty-mile ultramarathon. I didn’t realize then how hard the course would be, even compared to other fifty-mile races. It wasn’t until a month after signing up that I began hearing testimonials regarding the difficulty…
It’s about four in the afternoon. I’m off work early today. It’s odd. I’m okay with it, but it’s odd. I missed my run this morning so I figure I might as well take advantage of my free afternoon…
I sit in the idling car to keep the cold at bay. I’d only been outside long enough to check in. Already I can tell the icy chill in the air threatens to numb my extremities with surprising speed...
My alarm clock pierces the still morning air, apparently declaring a state of emergency. I leap out of bed to shut it off before it can wake the neighbors. It’s that loud...
It's 5:00am. I somehow wake even though I forgot to set my alarm last night. Also, I feel like shit. Clearly, I ate too much. I can already tell I'm going to pay for it...
I show up to the starting line. Nerves eat at me. I look around and see people who appear far faster than I am. I begin to wonder if I’m in the right starting group...
I wake up early. I've committed to a long run. Part of me regrets that commitment; part of me is grateful for it. And fortunately, I've spent the past two days preparing for this one...
