“I have great news,” I tell my family. “It’s not going to sound like great news at first, but it really, really is.”  Pregnant pause.

“I have bronchitis.”

Another pregnant pause.

Then they asked what you may be asking yourself: “What could possibly be great about bronchitis?"

What’s great about bronchitis is this: it’s an actual diagnosis. It's treatable, and it explains why I’ve been so slow on the trail, so tired and short of breath, so unmotivated. My weekly…

Most runners have had the experience: you train like crazy, you prep for a race with good nutrition and decent sleep, the weather on race day is not so bad, and somehow, the race itself still falls apart.

The most extreme memory I have of that type of “falling apart” might involve me, standing under the Colorado bridge (less than a mile from the finish) in the American Discovery Trail Marathon, having an internal negotiation about whether I would run it in, or walk it in.  Did I…

Even though I took it up relatively late in life, running is part of my identity. My faraway family and friends inquire about my running, and I frequently broach the subject with new friends and colleagues to find kindred spirits.  And 50% of the time, people who don’t know my running habits well ask me if I run “that race up that mountain,” referring, ostensibly, to the Pikes Peak Ascent.

Before last month, my response was always the same: “I’m definitely crazy, but I’m not that…