Wild Duluth 50k Race Day: Saturday September 19, 2024 – 8am With a light rain Saturday morning at Oldenburg Point in Jay Cooke State Park, me and a record field of starters awaited the conclusion of race director Andy Holak’s pre-race announcements. The boardwalks and rocks are like ICE, he said. This was a special […]
Read MoreRace Date: Saturday August 10, 2024 – 12am midnight Back for more. Minutes before midnight on August 10th, in Gary Minnesota, I felt apprehension, fear, excitement, and like a certified bad man. (‘Bad man’ in the context of how Mr. T would compliment me). I signed up for the Day Across MN way, way back […]
Read MoreSaturday, July 6, 2024 – 9am I was so pumped for the Freedhem race. No real expectations except to push my body hard, explore some new terrain I really haven’t seen before and have fun. I drove down with Ryan on race morning after a pretty unpleasant 4am wakeup call. I felt confident in my […]
Read MoreRace Day: Saturday, September 9, 2023 – 5:15am With my pre-race routine perfectly completed, me and 150 friends shuffled through the muggy, pitch-dark early morning air towards the starting flags on County Road 7 in the outskirts of Finland, MN to start a 50 mile journey to Lutsen. I was so excited. 9 months prior, […]
Read MoreRace Date: Saturday, June 17, 2023 – 7:45am My path to Grandma’s Marathon started in a painful state on the ride home from Twin Cities Marathon 8 months prior. I finished with a personal worst of 3:47 at the marathon, unless you include winter trail versions of the race distance… in which case I finished […]
Read MoreRace Date: Saturday, May 27, 2023 – 8am What a race! I have rarely felt so underprepared in all ways, but the outcome was the opposite of my expectations. When the go-ahead was announced for the “casual roll” to begin, I expected my chain to fall off my bike. Instead, I cranked up the hill […]
Read MoreThe Lament of a Bad Dog Owner ~a poetry series~ Diamond took a dump today; I had no bags, to my dismay. She popped a squat in the neighbor’s lawn; they called the cops but we were gone. We had to dip, so we skipped out quick; after I flicked the shit up with a […]
Read MoreIn the aftermath of the Krueger-Waddell Challenge, I made a pretty easy recovery. My body and mind bounced back almost immediately except my hands. On the final day, easily the hardest day while slowly trudging down the Pigeon River, I told myself that the trip was stupid and not fun. Even later that day, I […]
Read MoreGPS Data: I woke up to rain on my last day. I closed my eyes for just a minute more. Couple minutes. 10 minutes and I jolted awake, not fully understanding how I could take my needed next steps while I could hear the rain. First step, unplug the air mattress, I told myself. Then, […]
Read MoreAfter a very bright moon glared directly into my tent all night, my phone alarm went off at 5:15 and I immediately checked the weather. On my phone app, meteorologist Hunter said a storm was rolling in and it’d be rain on Friday into Saturday. Then he wished the viewers a happy Friday. Happy Friday […]
Read MoreGPS Data: My watch’s alarm went off early – 5am. The moon was bright all night. My sleeping bag was pretty moist. I could tell it was a little wet towards my feet. Ahhhh crap. Not good. I laid back down and shut my eyes just for a moment. I checked my phone – yep, […]
Read MoreGPS Data: I woke up to the sound of wind on the lake and my watch’s alarm beeping. I could tell it was pitch dark out so slept in a little more. I was mad when I roused a bit later – I gotta get my ass in gear here!! I figured that I could […]
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