I wish I only had to write about the Ascent.  Had a great day there.  Going into the race I thought my fitness would allow for a 3:29 and I would have been really happy with that.  So I was ecstatic when I got a second wind above Barr Camp and shuffled my way to a 3:12.

The good vibes continued on Sunday, where another 3:29 up goal was met with a 3:17.  I felt great, and I was prepared for the bomb back down the hill.  The first mile of that downhill went…

Rebecca Rusch, a well known figure in the endurance biking world, was giving a short talk the night before the Dirty Kanza.  She was speaking about the self doubt some of us would face the next day.  She told us of a "friend rule" she follows for whenever the voices in her head start telling her she sucks.  Whenever these voices pop up, telling her she should quit or she's a loser or she is a lousy athlete, she asks herself, "Would I…

Turning 40 has not been good for my running. 

I made a last ditch effort to go sub three at Pikes last year, and once again came up short.  I lost motivation, got injured, had a disaster of a race at NYC in November (3:30, off a 1:30 first half), then quit physical activity for two full months.  By far the biggest break I've ever taken from running since I picked up the sport almost three decades ago.  I used all that extra time to drink beer and eat lots of junk food, packing…

When I signed up for Leadman back in January, I knew the wild card for me would be the hundred mile mountain bike race.  I wasn’t a bike rider and I had never done a bike race before, and suddenly I was registered for one of the most famous mountain bike races in the world.  I projected nothing but confidence, telling anyone who would listen that if I could run 100 miles then biking 100 miles would be cake.  But inside I was really worried I had blown $850 and had given all my friends a…