Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a bit obsessed with running shoes lately. I have no idea if I’m compensating for a lack in my personality, using them as a fulfillment in my not-so-exciting life, or if running shoes simply, as my grandmother would have said, float my boat. Whatever the case, my new Merrell All […]

Saturday’s run begam well, as runs usually do. That’s a bit of a lie. It’s started out okay. Nothing dramatically awfully or stupendously wonderful. Just okay. I snagged my partner (i.e., bribed) into accompanying me on a 14 miler through the Campbell Creek Trails. My stomach was a bit off but the sun was shining […]

Oh, I had a really bad run on Wednesday. And yet it was also a really great run. Let me explain. I’m tentatively thinking of running the Resurrection Ultra 50-miler this year and have been doing back-to-back trail runs, not really long distance at this point so much as agonized distance, you know, a lot […]

When I arrived in Tucson 10 weeks ago, the first thing I did was get on blogs and map out running routes, and I found them, too, everything from paved bike paths along dried river washes to canyon and mountain trails. Discovering places to run in Tucson was easy. Then I flew out to the […]

I must admit that I had a bit of a time adjusting to Alaska. After seven glorious weeks in Tucson and two in Philly, Anchorage felt gloomy and cloudy and cold. Probably because it was gloomy and cloudy and cold. Still, once I hit the trails I felt better. I ran the first couple of days […]

A week and a half ago I left Tucson. It was 85 degrees and I had a twisted ankle, bad cold and a heavy heart. I didn’t want to leave. Living for so long in Alaska, I had forgotten what a gift it is to wake up to warm temperatures and sunshine. It made me […]

Yesterday was my dead sister’s birthday. I used to set out food for her each year, since she died of complications of an eating disorder and I figured that her ghost must be hungry, but a few years ago I began running instead. My sister, Cathie, and her dog Barney. This year I’m in Tucson, […]

Yes, I’m resurrecting my blog from the dead. It’s been a bit, no? And there’s so much to catch up. And the big news: I’m running again. Well, I never really quit but I slacked. I slacked big-time. I got stuck in a ridiculously demanding job and, when people around me quit and I found […]

The last two miles were unspeakable. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I missed my long run on Sunday due to a last minute work situation so I shuffled my schedule and ran Monday evening instead (i.e., since the sun sets at 3:30 p.m. now, evening here is actually mid-afternoon). This is where I was […]

I’m losing track of my training schedule, not a good sign. No matter: I know the race date and I suppose that’s all that matters: Feb. 15, 2014 I wrote in large fonts because I wanted the magnitude of my terror to resonate. But onward, no? This week’s training, or last week, since I’m a bit behind […]