Evolution of My Marathon: Part I

It all began at the Sprint store on that fateful First Friday of Spring Break 2016 (!)…My senior economics student Muhammad, “my associate,” helped me revolutionize my existence. Yes, it became true. In order to communicate more effectively with you kind folks, I had to trade in my flip phone. 3 hours later, I received…

42 Hours

Next order of business: hydro massage in Bardstown, Kentucky. Awesome. My hammys, glutes, lower back are happy.    

On to the Stage

Sunlight floods our chambers. We awaken from much needed slumber. Foam roller and Stick at the ready, we prepare to exit again. A work week of day jobs still hangs heavy but we are ready to cast off the weight. No matter what happens each day, we put in the miles. Once our feet touch…

Wrestling

Our ambition propels us forward. Runners set goals obsessively as we put in our daily 8-10 mile maintenance runs. Then come our scheduled track and tempo sessions–5 miles at [fill in pace here]–enroute to our weekend long run–21 miles at [pace/effort]. Confident.Determined. We strive for the golden moments when our best performances will be forever…

The Bet

Just pulled out 4 running logs from the archives. I turned to March in each one to get an idea of what I was doing running-wise during this month in years past. Here’s a quick glance… March  25-27, 1996 [I’m 18 years old]: 6 x 800 track workout @ about 2:30 average & 7.5 miles…

Dating Life of the Long Distance Runner

[pulled from my archives of February 2010] The dating scene for a distance runner presents some real challenges. Not only does one first have to expend extra energy finding someone to go out with, but then one must find the disposable cash not spent on running shoes or race entries in order to show a…

A Life Worth Living

Maybe we all knew it at the time, how these were some of the purest of moments. It wasn’t stated outright by many. I’m sure I said it at various points, tending to be prone to hyperbole. But this was deserving of the “hyper.” Hyper-colored browns, yellows, reds amid the withering autumn leaves. The quintessential…

Motorcycle Drive-By: Excerpt of Never Before Seen Draft

Gall-Wright-Busch: The Three Amigos. In 1995, they led ‘Bash in a sweep of the top five spots within a tough regional meet in Michigan. They did it while wearing tiny red shorts in a blizzard, charging through shin-deep ice water in places. They went on to place 3rd in the NCAA Division III Cross Country…