“Life is short. Running makes it seem longer.” I read the sign a volunteer had placed beside the trail as I power hiked up the final grade to Cuyamaca Peak, at roughly mile 23 of the 62-mile long course. I was 3 hours and 40 minutes into the race and now, at the end of the longest climb, was relishing the idea of a sponge soak soon. Nick was a minute or two behind me,…
Earlier this year, Topo athletes were invited to run one of the distances at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run (TRTER), a collection of races held on the northeast side of Lake Tahoe. Topo athletes since March, Nick and I both jumped at the opportunity, Nick wanting to run a 100-mile race this summer and myself looking for a fun 50K event. Despite being out in Lake Tahoe in mid-June for Broken Arrow, a month…
I’m three days home from a whirlwind trip to Germany and Austria, and already everything feels far behind me. Part of this is because we hit the ground running (as usual) when we got home in order to get back to coaching, writing, Nick’s grad school, and our animals, and the other part is because we leave for another trip to Lake Tahoe to run the Broken Arrow Vertical K tomorrow. That will make more…
After dropping out at mile 24 last year, I had sworn I would never run the race again, but here I was, almost exactly a year later, on the start line of the Black Canyon 100K cold and excited and just a little bit scared. Two and a half weeks prior, our trip to New Zealand felt apart after a flight cancelation and, with it, my plans to run Tarawera 100K. After a night wondering…
It’s been a while since I last updated my blog, in part because blog posts aren’t where most share more personal details of their lives anymore (that’s for Instagram, right?) I’ve also spent the last five years since my previous blog post finishing a degree in writing and starting and completing another degree not in writing but that required a lot of it. Blog posts went by the wayside. I’d like to change that, thanks…
A few years ago, when I ran Rabbit Peak for the first time, I called it the most challenging run or hike I’ve ever done. At 22 miles, it’s not big compared to most ultramarathons, yet it’s incredibly challenging with roughly 8,000 feet of elevation ascent (and an equal amount of descent), technical terrain, jumping cholla cactus, and a route that is determined more by sheer cliffs than by an navigable trail. Joe and Nicole…
Earlier this month I completed Travis Macy’s 8-week Ultra Mindset Academy eCourse, an extension of his popular book, The Ultra Mindset. Travis’ course suggests that participants will come away with these three skills: A lasting, resilient, positive mindset that will motivate you for training and get you to the finish line in races Mastery of evidence-based mindset principles that can be applied to life beyond athletics, including work, parenting, and relationships Synergy for success through genuine…
I’m not an angry person, and most people remember me by my smile, or so I’ve been told. But Oriflamme 50K–the second time-around–was a miserable experience for me (and because of me.) For those who aren’t familiar with the Oriflamme 50K, it’s a terrific event put on annually by Pinnacle Endurance. The course starts at Sunrise Trailhead in the mountains east of San Diego, then winds along the Pacific Crest Trail for a few miles…
Photo credit: Glenn Tachiyama On the ferry ride over between Anacortes, Washington to our destination, Orcas Island, Nick replayed his whys over in his mind. I had a difficult time concealing my giddiness at a trip to Orcas–for one, I had never been but had heard of the island magic; for another, it was the Pacific Northwest and as a proud Pacific Northwesterner, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to smell coastal brine and the…
This past weekend, Nick and I ran the Twin Peaks 50/50, an awesome race run by Dirty Feet Productions RD Jessica DeLine. Nick ran Twin Peaks in 2012, but this time I was willing to join in on the fun. Without big expectations for our performances, we set the male and female course records (Nick: 8:56:27 and Jade: 10:32:34), finishing first and fourth overall, respectively. On the drive home, we asked each other some questions about…