Category Archives: Running

Lost Boys – My Tribe

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There was a time when I was alone
Nowhere to go and no place to call home
My only friend was the man in the moon
And even sometimes he would go away, too

I’ve always been the black sheep of the family, marching to the beat of my own drum, never coloring between the lines….all the clichés that describe that person who refuses to conform to fit in. Even now, my family doesn’t quite get me. There’s always the passive aggressive guilt-trips that they try to put on me about how I live my life. I suspect that’s the same with many people. It used to bother me a lot, but now, it bothers me a little. And while I’ve always felt like a little bit of an outcast, I figured that I was just unique in my way of thinking. But, I’m not. Continue reading →

North Face 50-Miler – Freedom Run

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“She was born to be free, let her run wild in her own way and you will never lose her.” ― Nikki Rowe

On Saturday, April 9th, I ran my 4th 50-miler in DC. This was my 3rd time running the DC North Face Endurance Challenge. And for the first time in a very long time, I went into a race without a goal. As I started running ultras, I became more and more focused on goals (if that’s even possible for my obsessive brain) and the pressure of meeting these self-imposed goals started to get to me. Race after race, I would put myself through moments of despair and self loathing that I would come out wondering, why am I so mean to myself? I was afraid that I was heading towards being burnt out so I re-evaluated my goals for the year and frankly, they are pretty aggressive. After taking a look at the big picture, I realized that I needed a freedom run. I needed to toss out the goal of setting a PR and let my spirit and my heart run free. And so I did. Continue reading →

2016 HAT Run 50K Race Recap – Chasing Seven

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There are several races that I have scheduled this year where I have set a goal to achieve. The 2016 HAT Run 50k was one of them. My goal was to run this course in under 7 hours. Specifically, I wanted to do it in 6 hours 50 minutes. I had PRd this course last year when the course was in one of it’s worst conditions by 47 minutes from 7:59:29 in 2014 to 7:04:52 in 2015. Surely I was ready break 7 hours. Continue reading →

Redemption Run

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There’s nothing more glorious than a redemption run after having the confidence knocked out of you. And today was redemption day.

We headed out to my happy place at Gunpowder Falls for 12 miles. We took the pink trail which starts with a climb. I settled in with my mid-pack but then something happened at about mile 2 or 3. It clicked. Continue reading →

When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough

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On Saturday, when I realized as I was driving to meet my friends to carpool to our 22 mile run that I still had my slippers on, I knew it was going to be one of those days. I made a quick call and sent a messages to my crew that I had to turn around. We had planned on meeting at 6:45 am, but they were kind enough to wait for me and I’m glad they did.

I woke up feeling great. I got enough sleep…although wearing my slippers out the door has me questioning that…and my mental game was on. As we started running, I quickly settled in the middle. Once again, I tried my best to keep up with the fast kids, but I just couldn’t keep up. Continue reading →

Chasing Fast Boys (Training Recap – 2/15/16 – 2/21/16)

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When you want to be fast, you gotta run with the fast. This week, I was chasing fast boys and barely keeping up. My target mileage for this week was 44 miles. I ran 37 leaving me short 7 miles. We had another winter blast that came in on Tuesday and with my work schedule, I just couldn’t make the run happen indoors or out. While the missed mileage wasn’t ideal, I did nail some of the runs that I did get in. Continue reading →

The Joy of Running with Friends (Training Recap – 2/8/16 – 2/14/16)

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Last week had its ups and downs, which is typical during training. But after looking at last week’s totals, I actually did better than I thought. As you can see below, there were hits and misses, but overall, not too terrible. Continue reading →

Catching Up – 2/8/16

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It’s tough betting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I officially started training in December and really haven’t had many issues. The goal for this season is to get faster, and for the most part, I see progress. With the exception for the week of January 16th when I ran PHUNT 50k, my weekly mileage has been in the 30’s. The 50k tipped me over into a 40-mile week. Continue reading →

All Lost Souls are Found on the Trails

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There’s something to be said about the joy and healing of running. While I despised the act of it when I started, something happened along the way. It was as if someone gave me medicine that I didn’t want and eventually realized I needed. Then I discovered the trails, and it took this thing called running into an entirely new level. And the journey of the discovery of myself went into a new dimension. Continue reading →

PHUNT 25k/50k 2016 Race Recap – Should’ve Stuck to Plan A

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Last Saturday completed my first race of the season and boy was it a little ridiculous. The 13th Annual PHUNT 25k/50k took place on January 16th at Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area.  I heard such great things about PHUNT over the past few years and after a few nudges from friends, I decided to sign up. While it was sold out by the time I decided to move forward with it, I didn’t have to stay on the wait list long. PHUNT is one of the few races that I’ve come across where transferring registration is easy and they make every effort to try and have those on the wait list fill in the spots for runners who just can’t make it. I was very grateful for this. Continue reading →