One of my goals for 2018 was to get back into shape enough to tackle an ultra distance race again. I had a great streak of races at the end of 2015 and into early 2016, but then everything fell apart, and in 2017 my longest single run was 19 miles. I knew that part […]
Read moreOne of the things that is different when you look at trail running (vs. road running) is that there is a second enemy in the mix. When you go out and run on roads or bike trails, the main enemy you face is yourself. Your body wants to rebel and make you stop. Your mind […]
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Our quest to learn and experience more about the winter ultra scene brought my wife and I to far northern Minnesota this week to volunteer at the amazing Arrowhead 135 race. As with many winter ultras, this is a multi-modal, survival-focused, event. Participants have the option to use a bike, skis, or their feet, to […]
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On Saturday the wife and I drove down to River Falls, WI to participate in a wonderful end of season race, the Icebox 480. Many of our friends have run this race in years past, and we decided this year was the year we were going to join in as well. Icebox is a timed […]
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This was my third year at Surf the Murph. Two years ago it was the site of my first 50K and my induction into the ultramarathon distance. Last year I tried for a repeat, but after a big year with my first 50 mile race I just wasn’t up for two loops of the course, […]
Read moreHot. That was the word for the day on Saturday when I ran the Surly Trail Loppet Half Marathon. I had signed up for this race a few weeks ago, since my wife was gone during this same weekend running a Trail Ragnar. I had never run this race before, and had only ran at […]
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I awoke very early on Saturday to the sound of my wife’s alarm. She wanted to get some food in her stomach early, so that she could get it starting to process before she began her race. She had been looking forward to the Moose Mountain Marathon all year, and this was her big goal […]
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This recap will be hard to write. Not because I can’t find enough words to fill a page, but because editing this amazing weekend down to readable format will be difficult! If you’re looking for the TL;DR…. Amazing weekend, amazing community, amazing weather… 11/10… will do again. I began my weekend leaving the Twin Cities […]
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Ever since deciding to focus the rest of my year on smaller races, I have registered for a couple that I’ve never done before. The first on the list is a race that is run over at Battle Creek Park in Saint Paul, called the Bluff Tuff Trail Half Marathon. It’s a part of the […]
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For the second year in a row I’ve had the honor of volunteering at the Voyageur 50 as part of the official Upper Midwest Trail Runners Aid Station. We gather at the Beck’s Road station which is at mile 19 and 31 of this amazing out-and-back course. Our volunteer captain Rob is an incredibly experienced […]
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This past Saturday, the annual summer gathering of trail people, known as Afton 50K/25K, took place. This event has been going on for decades and is a wonderful way to kick off the July 4th weekend in Minnesota. As always, Rocksteady Running puts on an amazing event, with great aid stations, a well marked course, […]
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This year we decided to add in the Trail Mix 25K race into the Upper Midwest Trail Runners Trail Series. It’s a very popular local trail race at Lake Rebecca Park Reserve, and is a great introduction to trail running for beginners. I hesitated on signing up early, and opt’d to just do race day […]
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