Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Trestle Run // Identity Crisis

I’ve been in the midst of a bit of an identity crisis lately. Not being able to run has been frustrating and I’ve found myself pondering who I am without running. I realize that probably seems a little over the top. But after two months of one step forward, two steps back, I was legitimately feeling lost.

I know that I am still someone that enjoys getting outside and challenging myself through endurance pursuits. Whether that's a goal race that I've spent a lot of time and effort training for, a bike ride that I'm not at all prepared for, or an adventure run that just kind of unfolds as you go. These things may not make me who I am, but they certainly have an impact on me.

I've had to find ways to change my mindset. Instead of being bummed out about not being able to run, I've had to find ways to flip that and be excited about what I am able to do. That's easier said than done when I'm riding the same one-hour bike ride in the dark every morning just trying to hang onto some fitness and work up a sweat to stay sane. That's a ticket to exactly what I talked about not doing at the end of the summer. Falling into a rut and just waiting for the next trip or adventure. This time it was waiting until I could run again. For example, instead of being pumped about a trip to the Smokies, all I could do was dwell on the fact that I wouldn't be able to do any running up there.

Amanda and I had both been really looking forward to that trip and I knew that I needed to find a way to snap out of it. With a few days of downtime during our bye week at work, I took a mental health day and drove up to the Lake Russell WMA to ride the dirt & gravel forest service roads on my new Cannondale Slate. What an awesome day. This ride really helped me turn things around. It was exactly what I needed to snap out of my rut and change my mindset to focus on what I am able to do at the present moment. I can't do an adventure run every morning before work. I know that. This ride helped me start thinking about what I can do. And at the end of the day, an hour ride on the greenway by the house is still better than nothing.

Like I said, the ride was awesome. I'm not the greatest cyclist, so I actually really enjoy these solo missions. I'm not worried about not being able to keep up or how slow I'm going. I'm just out there having some fun. I found the ride on REI's Mountain Bike Project app. It was described as a great intro to gravel riding and that it was. It had a little bit of everything, rolling hills, long climbs, and white-knuckle descents. It was a great test of the new ride and it really backed up my decision to get a Slate. I don't know how people ride this stuff on rigid forks. Maybe I'm just a wimp but the 30 mm of travel on the Lefty Oliver were clutch for me. Most importantly, I enjoyed plenty of fresh mountain air that gave me a much needed shot in the arm. I’m still itching to get back to running, but a day like this helped ease my mind and granted me patience.

Rad Ride // Lake Russell WMA
I strapped my GoPro to the handlebars and tried to get a few shots from the ride to throw up on my YouTube Channel. Hopefully, this is the start of more videos to come. I've been trying to keep up with IGTV, but I still kind of hate the vertical videos.


Smoky Mountain Traffic Jam
After a great day out in the North Georgia mountains riding my bike, Amanda and I headed up to the Smokies for a rare fall weekend getaway. We rented a Tiny House at the Long Springs Tiny House campground in Tennessee and spent the weekend drinking coffee, doing some short hikes and driving around the National Park. Saturday was excellent despite some rain and although Sunday brought fantastic weather we failed to account for everyone else wanting to get out and see the fall colors in the Park. It took us two hours to go 10 miles and get to the entrance, which turned what should have been about four hours in the car, give or take some time for stops at overlooks and what not, into eight hours in the car, woof.


Shutting It Down
Feeling better both mentally and physically after the trip to Tennessee, I told myself that I was going to have to be patient about my hamstring. There were things I could do in the meantime to help, but it is going take as long as it takes. That realization was a hard pill to swallow, but ultimately I think it's helped me. I decided to shut down any thoughts of trying to run until Thanksgiving, which will hopefully be longer than I need. I also decided that my 2018 racing calendar is/was done. When I first hurt my hamstring, I held out hope that I'd be able to come back and run the last few races of the year, but it's not worth it. There is no point in rushing back. My focus needs to be getting healthy and improving my strength and flexibility so this doesn't happen again. It's earlier than I'm used to but it's time to start planning for 2019 and that's okay. I don't really have much of a choice, but it's okay. I'll still be at as many Dirty Spokes races as I can, helping out and hanging out, but no running for me. It means an end to my six consecutive XTERRA regional titles, but it is what it is.

What I'm Reading/Listening to/Liking








Injuries are Inevitable, So Cut Yourself Some Slack // David Roche // Trail Runner Magazine 
They say vulnerability is an essential part of a meaningful relationship. Well what happens when you have a meaningful relationship with an activity that can (and probably will) be taken away from you entirely at times? It can act a lot like a break-up for some athletes, where they blame the sport (and burn out) or blame themselves (and experience depression or self-judgment).
My good friend and former college teammate Joe Reynolds sent this article to me the other day and to say I needed it is a massive understatement. I mean, read what I wrote above and this quote is pretty much exactly what I've been feeling. I've absolutely bookmarked this story and will probably be referring to it a few times a week as I attempt to recover.

Six Who Sat // 30 for 30 Podcast

Before the 1970s, women were not welcome at the world’s great marathons, but a few brave pioneers sought to challenge that system. Six Who Sat tells the story of two iconic moments in women’s running, both captured in photographs.





ESPN's 30 for 30 podcasts are excellent. I couldn't really get into their third season about Bikram yoga for whatever reason, but they are back to an individual story for each episode for season four and I'm all in. I even listened to the episode about poker and I hate poker. They are really well done, on par with the movies in my opinion. This episode about Katherine Switzer in the 1968 Boston Marathon and six women who protested the 1972 New York Marathon and changed the sport forever. My mom would have loved this one.

What's Poppin' on IG


I was fortunate to get connected with Adam Aldridge, Matt Johnson, Sean Kunis, and Matt Feldhake as they were ramping up their training for Sky to Summit 50k. I missed out on some of the bigger runs they did during their build up but it's been awesome to find a group of local guys to train with. Adam, Matt Johnson, and Sean all finished the 50k a couple weeks ago, unfortunately, Matt Feldhake had to pull out with an injury and wasn't able to start. I'm looking forward to getting back to running with these guys when I'm back and rolling. Also, I definitely will have to run one of Sean Blanton's (RunBum) races. That dude embodies epic with his races.


I've been following pro mountain biker Ryan Petry for a year or two. I've found him to be an interesting and inspirational guy. He recently raced at XTERRA Worlds despite missing some time with an injury. He's actually battled back from a couple of injuries this year and seeing his process, dedication, and focus come through has been really motivating for me. Anyway, despite the crazy muddy conditions and interrupted training, he still found a way to battle and finish 17th in the triathlon. Pretty impressive dude.




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Fall left Georgia as quickly as it came. It seemed like it took until early to mid-November for Fall to arrive in Georgia and a few days later we had temperatures in the mid-to-low 30s and frost is starting to creep down from up north. I don't mind winter down here, but missing out on the best running weather of the year has added to the frustration level a little bit.

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Trestle Run // Set Backs & Silver Linings

Of course, I would get hurt right after finishing writing about how I wasn't going to allow myself to settle into a holding pattern. Every year I end up in a bit of a rut, just waiting for for the two or three free weekends that I get during the fall. I said I wasn't going to do it and then bang. My hamstring grabbed me mid-800 in the middle of a track workout.

I tried to jog it out a little bit, but that was no use. Each step was more painful than the one before it, so I pulled the plug on the workout. I've been very fortunate to avoid injury for a long time. Other than a tweaked calf a few years ago, I've been relatively healthy as of late. I've overdone it a couple of times and had some fatigue issues, but I've been able to avoid any real injuries. The way my hamstring felt that day though, man did I have some real concerns.

The first thing I did was stop running. Then I got in the ice bath, put on my compression tights and elevated my leg while hanging out at home. The tried and true R.I.C.E. method. When I woke up the next day, things were not much better. I was mentally starting to spiral into the rut that I had been hoping to avoid. With a work trip to Philadelphia coming up, I was excited about the run I had planned. One of my favorite runs when I lived up there was the Kelly Drive loop. Based on where we were staying, I planned a 10-12 mile version of the loop with options to add on if I was feeling good.

Unfortunately, as I prepared to leave for the trip I was also coming to the realization that there was no way I was going to be able to run. Despite packing my running gear in my brand new all-day duffel from Territory Run Co., I knew no run was happening. My hamstring was incredibly tight. It felt like the muscle fibers were wound tight and taut under the same tension as steel cable. I could barely walk without a limp.

Of course, two hours crammed in a plane seat didn't exactly help things, but I was able to walk around a little bit after dinner once we arrived in Philly. In an effort to make the best of the situation I decided to jump on a bike share bike and see how much of my pre-planned loop I could manage. That ended up being a good call because I rode around for nearly two hours and my leg felt fine. I did the whole loop I had planned and then added on some. It was probably for the best that day because it was blazing hot.

Unfortunately, when I got back to Atlanta things didn't improve much. I took the next few days off from running but kept riding to try and save some fitness. By the next Monday, I figured I would give running a go. That was a fail. I made it a mile before turning around and calling it due to tightness. More biking, icing, compression and light stretching followed.

Three, going on four, weeks with no running and my hamstring still doesn't feel right. I tried running twice after my initial two-mile hobble and although I've made it through the runs okay the aftermath has been no bueno. Both times my hamstring loosened up during the run, but the rest of the day I could feel it in everything I did. After that, I decided to stick to my dad's advice and hold off on trying to run until it was totally gone.

Fortunately, I've been able to ride most days. That's kept me somewhat sane. In a cruel twist of fate the new bike that I ordered at the end of August, a bike that I spent the better part of two years saving for, has been delayed. I'm limited to just riding and I can't even ride the awesome new bike that I bought. What a kick in the tights.

It's been difficult to find a silver lining in this injury situation. I realize that I'm fortunate to have gone as long as I did without suffering any injuries. And I know this really isn't a dire situation, but that doesn't mean that it's not a bummer. I've had to miss Dirty Spokes and XTERRA races and even though I've gone to them and helped out and hung around it was still tough to not be out there running.

My consistency and routine are big parts of what keeps me motivated and energized for everything. Whether it's work related, or related to this blog, or hell just stress relieving daydream time, I relish in my time out running. I'm glad that I've been able to throw my headlamp on my bike helmet and get out the door most mornings, but the out and back is starting to get a little tedious.

Okay, that's enough complaining. I'm doing my best to try and stay positive but it's been a challenge. I'm trying to stay positive, so I've decided to start focusing on the next steps. No running for four weeks. No attempt to run after three. I'm not trying to run a step until it's been four weeks. When I get to that point, I'll test it out and see how it responds. In the meantime I'll keep biking and I'll also work in a couple of days of rest. I'm doing some light stretching and trying to work on it with the foam roller after riding.

At this point, it is what it is. I hate that, but whatever. In the long run, it will probably be a good thing. I have a tendency to just keep grinding away and never take any real rest, which leads to cumulative fatigue. I get to the late spring and when I feel like I should be sharp, I end up flat. All because I took three days off instead of taking some real actual rest. I'm trying to treat this as the silver lining. Four weeks of no running in my legs. Hopefully a new bike soon. If I listen to the universe and take it as a sign, it should set me up well for 2019. I still have a few races left in 2018, but the expectations for those have changed.

This forced time off has kind of flipped the calendar on me and that might not be a bad thing.

What I'm Reading/Listening To/Liking
Extreme Athleticism is the New Mid-Life Crisis // Paul Flannery // Medium
There’s a moment in 100-mile races that ultrarunners call “the dark place.” It’s usually late in the race when everything goes to hell and you experience the greatest pain you will ever feel. When you arrive there, there’s nothing left to do but, “embrace the suck.”
I've been wading into the world of Medium a little bit lately. I got a little bit too down the rabbit hole on YouTube for a while there. Nothing against YouTube, I've found some really interesting and inspiring stuff on there, but it's a quick way to burn an hour without realizing it. A decent bit of the writing on Medium makes me feel like I might be dumb (side note: That's because I am.) but there are some really intriguing reads.

For example, I recently came across this piece about extreme athleticism being the new mid-life crisis. I'm not quite at that point yet, but yeah I can see that.

Beat Monday // Outside TV
Speaking of YouTube, one of the coolest new video series I have found lately is Beat Monday from Outside TV. It's a 15 minute-or-so show about two guys that take from 5pm on Friday to 9am on Monday to get in epic adventures. There are three episodes on Outside's YouTube page and they range from Mt. Hood in Oregon to the Presi Traverse in New Hampshire.



This show is kind of like a mini Boundless since they are attempting monster endurance challenges, but the condensed, 15-minute format makes it a little more digestible. It doesn't quite capture the highs and lows the same way, but it's still super inspirational and has me thinking about ways that I can find my own Beat Monday adventures.

IG Inspirations



Josh Ferenc killing it at the Mt. Bachelor Under Armour 50k last month.


Cider donut season is my favorite season.


This photo has me very excited for our upcoming trip up to the Smoky Mountains. Hopefully, my hammy will be healed up by then and I can venture up Mt. Leconte.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Trestle Run // No Holding Pattern

The summer seems like it lasts about three weeks nowadays and by the time we reach the second week of August, I'm ready for it to be fall. Of course, here in Atlanta, fall doesn't seem to hit until mid-October. What I typically end up doing during this twilight-zone like time where my brain struggles to retain its loose grip on the space-time continuum is settle into a holding pattern.

I am guilty of doing this much more frequently than I would like to admit, but it's the truth. It takes different forms. Sometimes I'll call it a rut, or a funk as if giving this malady different names changes its form. In reality, it's a holding pattern. I settle into the same routine, wash, rinse, and repeat until something comes along to snap me out of it for a few weeks. I'm making this out to sound more dramatic than it really is, but every year around the "end" of the summer I find myself in the same spot. Waiting for fall like I'm in the passenger seat then enjoying my favorite time of year and then waiting for the new year, a trip home, winter to pass, et cetera, et cetera. Not this year. I'm not doing it.

My goal for this summer/fall whatever you want to call the time between mid-August and December, I'm focusing on not doing the same old same old. Of course, I'm still going to end up running my same everyday loop a bunch and there will be plenty of days that seem very similar, but I'm all about mindset right now. Yes, my everyday seven-mile loop will still show up on my Strava more often than not because it's convenient, but I want to push myself to try and find a way to work some microadventures into the margins of my days. A busy work schedule certainly plays into the whole holding pattern thing, but at the end of the day, that's an excuse more times than it's really a cause-effect situation.

It doesn't take much effort to get out to a different spot to run a day or two a week. That's an easy place to start. This is all really just me trying to psych myself up to be more efficient with my time and cut out some of the lazy hours that I have. Shoot, maybe I just need to start my day with a cup of coffee instead of waiting until after I run. I don't know, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm not sure exactly where I was going with this stream of consciousness, but it's gotten me to the point of starting to piece together my fall from a run/race/trip/event standpoint and I think that's a good place to start.

Fall Planning
As usual, Fall planning will start with the XTERRA Georgia schedule. There are four races stretching from late September to early December and with fewer two-day work trips this year (more on that later) I think I should be able to make it to most of them. Dirty Spokes also has two-night races this fall, one coming up on September 15 that I am planning on racing instead of the usual downtown Atlanta stadium 5k that I normally have done in September.

The night races are really fun and different and after doing Iron Hill and two night Ragnar legs last year, it's definitely something that I'm looking forward to doing more of. Based on my work schedule, there is one sort of "big decision" I have to make. Do I run the Atlanta 10 miler or do the Old Grey Barn cyclocross race?

Both fall on a Sunday that we don't have a game (we're at home on a Monday night that week). If you had asked me after Peachtree, I would have said 100 percent, I'm doing the Atlanta 10 miler, but now I'm not so certain. I just don't love road racing. I'm still a better road runner than I am a trail runner, but I'm just not sure that's how I want to spend that day. We'll see, maybe I'll feel differently after getting back into the swing of things with track workouts.

On the other hand, CX races are fun. There is zero pressure because I stink, so I just go out and ride as hard as I can and try to have some fun. I haven't been able to do one the last couple of years, so I'm thinking this could be a fun way to mix things up. Plus, it's in late October and it's in north Georgia near the one random county where they can grow apples, so CX + apple picking might be the winning combo.

Work Road Trips
We have 10 work-related road trips per year...minimum...11 if you count the combine in March, which you shouldn't because Indianapolis in February...no thanks. This year we got a little bit of a tough draw for trips. Green Bay in November. Cleveland, not my favorite running spots. But that's a bad attitude and I'm not into the whole negative energy thing right now. Regardless of where we go this year, I am excited about trying out IGTV. I made a couple of short videos of runs I did before training camp started and I made one for our preseason trip to New York a few weeks back.

I'm challenging myself to try and make a 2-3 minute video of a run from each of the cities we go to. There are a couple of factors at play, namely time, but I think I can do it. This is where the fewer two-day trips thing comes in. Last year, we had a bunch of two-day trips and that freed up a bunch of time for me to go and do these cool two-hour runs and explore a bunch. I'll have the chance to do that a couple times with night games but it will be a challenge to figure out how to make this happen on days when I don't have a ton of time to run, but that kind of ties back in with what I started this blog off talking about. I'll have to remember to read this when I am laying in a hotel bed at five in the morning in Cleveland thinking about how I don't want to get up to run before work.

Some of these videos are going to be cooler than others. Speaking of which, I started this off with the leader in the clubhouse for the best run of the season when I got in 16 miles on Manhattan before our first preseason game.

Rad Run // Central Park 
Central Park is huge. I don't know if you guys know that, but it's big. Real big. On our last trip to New York, I ran to the Brooklyn Bridge, a place I had never been to. Honestly, it wasn't the greatest run I've ever done, but the Brooklyn Bridge was very cool. It made the less cool parts worth it. With another trip to NY this year, I once again decided to run somewhere that I had never been, Central Park. I haven't been to New York more than a handful of times. School trips or swinging through on the way to somewhere else. I'm not a big New York guy, you know, the whole Boston thing. I have to say though, I've come to enjoy it on my last few trips. My plan was to have a write up of the run here but it was getting long winded, so maybe it'll be a separate blog. Anyway here's the short video I made for IGTV.




What I'm Reading/Liking/Listening to...
Dan Whitehead // YouTube Channel
I came across Dan Whitehead's youtube channel while surfing through the recommended videos that came up after watching Ginger Runner and Mountain Outhouse and it's quickly become my favorite channel. Dan is an Australian ultra runner that just recently finished up a 100+ day trip to Europe that included the Lavaredo Ultra and the TDS. I'm admittedly a newb when it comes to this ultra stuff, but it's been really cool to follow the experience from the perspective of an everyman runner. I think that's what's interesting about Dan, I don't know his times, but he presents himself as a mid-packer and I think we can all relate to all of the different ups and downs he's gone through on his trip. I'm all caught up on his Europe trip, but I've been going back and watching a lot of his older vlogs. Even if you aren't a big runner the cinematography in his videos from the Alps are amazing and worth a look.




Ryan Petry on the Mile High Endurance podcast
Ryan Petry is a pro mountain biker that I have been following for a while now. If my memory is correct, I found out about him through Instagram. I think he liked a photo that I put up from my run up Green Mountain in Boulder a couple years ago, and because I'm team follow back I have been following him since. Like I said, he is a pro mountain biker and just a good all-around athlete. I remember seeing his name pop up on the GoPro Mountain Games episode of Boundless which was pretty cool. I'm sure Amanda was super impressed when I said, hey I think that guy follows me on Instagram.

Anyhow, the podcast dives into his impressive second-place finish at Haute Route Rockies, the broken wrist he is trying to bounce back from, and his prep for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race.

side note - I was daydreaming the other day and thinking that would be a cool bucket-list race to do and then I remembered being out all day during the Fools Gold 50 a couple of years ago. Woof. 

One of the things I found very interesting was when the discussion turned to CBD oil. Petry said he is a regular user of CBD oil and said that he won't be surprised if it begins to take the place of Advil and other anti-inflammatories for many athletes. I've been looking into CBD a little bit because I have heard that it has a variety of benefits. My mom actually used CBD oil during her cancer treatment to help with pain management and sleep.

It's not something that I'm ready to dive in on yet as researching it can be a little bit of a wormhole and it's hard to pick out what is fact, what is hypothetical, and what is false. Also, there are apparently two different kinds of CBD, one derived from hemp and one derived from marijuana. In Georgia, the kind derived from marijuana is only legal for medical use with certain conditions. The hemp variety is legal, but I don't think that's a game I want to play unless I know for sure I can trust the source. That was a little bit of a ramble, but it's an interesting topic. In the previous episode they had the co-founder of a company called iKor, which makes hemp-based CBD oil, so maybe I'll give that a listen too.

Tracksmith Journal // Lofty Goals
Tracksmith has another lookbook out. These things are absolutely gorgeous. The photography, the copy. I love it all. It's a little silly but flipping through their fall lookbook actually made me a little bit homesick. I'm so ready for the humidity to break here and for cool morning runs. As soon as football season starts it's fall in my mind. We have to endure another month or so of summer temps here in Georgia, but looking at these photos from Tracksmith's camp in Vermont had me longing for cross country season. I guess it's a good thing that fall doesn't really start down here until October (the best month of the year) though. I told myself I can't buy anything from Tracksmith until then. The lookbooks are awesome, but they aren't so good for my bank account.

What's Poppin' on IG