kilt

Part 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 Merriman Road to Memorial Parkway (3 miles, 96.3 total) This was a mostly flat section comprised almost entirely of tow path.  Shelly was now pacing me.  We walked a lot.  I peed a lot.  Apparently I was hallucinating a lot... I repeatedly asked Shelly if she had said something.  She had not. When she did talk, she told some more stories of the crew experiences throughout the night.  I really don't remember any of them.  We were passed by a handful of runners at this point, including a pair that were running.  I marveled at their ability to run at this point.  We were also passed by a few runners unaffiliated with the race.  All seemed aware of the race as they congratulated me for making it this far. Shelly reminded me of all the vomit piles during this section.  She could identify them as Burning River runners based on the partially-digested aid station food.  It was pretty gross. We were passed b...

Part 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 Pine Hollow #2 to Covered Bridge #1 (6.6 miles, 80.8 total) This section started innocently enough.  I drank a Red Bull at Pine Hollow, and it definitely picked me up!   Within about two minutes of leaving Pine Hollow for the second time, I felt a surge of energy that I hadn't felt since mile 20.  I felt very good physically and mentally.  My legs were still stiff, but the only pain radiated from my left Achilles.  Jesse and I were making great progress.  I don't remember if I ran at this point, but I was definitely hiking faster than I had over the last few sections. I'm pretty sure this was about the time Jesse and I started discussing his Mind the Ducks 12 Hour performance.  At the end of the race, Jesse ran one half-mile loop at a blistering 5:20 pace.  It was the fastest lap anyone ran all day... after he had already run over 64 miles.   I have also witnessed Jesse exhibiting this kick on some of our ...

Part 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 Boston Store to Pine Lane (4.1 miles, 58.6 total) This section was filled with memories.  In 2008, I was on a death march.  It took me about two and a half hours to navigate this 4.1 mile section.  This year, I was feeling immeasurably better.  I had Shelly to keep me company.  The trails were pretty gnarly, including an incredibly root-laden stretch.  This section was a net gain in altitude, so I powered uphill more than down.  We tried to stick with the 10/2 ratio, but our efforts were thwarted by the hills. Shelly gave me the run-down of the crew's experiences throughout the day.  As I expected, their day had been spent frantically rushing, relaxing, and laughing.  She told tales of goiters, the dude that had his crew spray him down with Axe body spray, a side-trip to a gourmet deli at a local grocery store, Jesse fixing our car (the guy really is the jack of all trades), Art's unnaturally-large big toes, and som...

This is my interview with Brandon Armstrong of Crossfit Grand Rapids , the location of my barefoot running clinics: Check out their website for more information!

Part 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 Before I dive into the race, I should explain my sometimes controversial race strategy.  In the past, I've tried a variety of methods.  Most race strategies involved starting VERY at a VERY slow pace to conserve energy.  This idea was manifested in a run/walk strategy.  My favorite was an "eight/ two" ratio: run for eight minutes, then walk for two.  Additionally, I would walk all uphills and run all downhills. This strategy presented two major problems.  First, it never felt good.  I never felt like I was able to find a groove.  The transition from run to walk and back again was too distracting.  Second, it was too slow.  From the beginning of the race, I would be close to the cutoff time.  The conservative nature did not suit me well. I found a new strategy thanks to Jeremiah Cataldo, my ultrarunner friend mentioned in the first part.  He would run as long as possible, then switch to a more conserva...