This is something I've asked myself many times in the past few months before and after registering for the race and something I've been asked at least as many times by other inquiring minds. It seems like a simple enough question on the surface, but the honest answer goes deeper than that. First, what is the Vol-State 500k? From the race website: "The Vol-State is not just another ultra-marathon. It is much more than that. The Vol-State is a journey, an adventure, and an expl

"You're just not there yet." These words were uttered to me by a very close friend the day after my soul-crushing disappointment of a race this past weekend. I'm not sure if those are the hardest or the easiest words to hear in this case. On one hand, maybe it's true. Maybe I'm just not yet capable of running 150 miles in under 24 hours. If that's the truth, then that's easy. I just keep running more and running harder and I'll teach my body to get there. Sure, I wanted to be

“If one could run without getting tired I don’t think one would often want to do anything else.” — C. S. Lewis 2016 - what a year. This quote is of particular meaning to me when I think about the past year and my running through it. 2016 was also a great year for many other reasons, but for all intents and purposes we'll stick to the running here. It was by far my most successful as an athlete. I think it is fair to say that I owe all of my recent successes to my fantastic co

143.39. I keep thinking to myself that this number is absurd. 143.39 miles. In 24 hours. I still can't believe that I did it. I mean, in my heart I knew I could, and it is what I was aiming for, but to have such an ambitious goal realized after over a year of hard training for this very number (or at least 140) is still kind of surreal. Let's back up a little bit. Back to August 16, 2012 in Burlington, Vermont. This was 2 days before the USAT Age Group National Championships.

Three weeks later and I'm still having trouble putting words to paper (or computer as it is) about my second attempt at the 24 hour timed event. I knew going in that I didn't put in quite the training miles for this race as I did for my first 24 hour back in May, especially that last couple of training blocks. This was mostly due to the fact that I wanted to try to sneak in a 2017 Boston Marathon Qualifier, which I did when Woo and I went up and ran Quebec City marathon in Au

Before racing the 2016 edition of the Sweltering Summer 8 Hour ultra I had won 6 races overall in my running "career" (including the 2015 edition of this race). I had the mindset going into this race that it would absolutely be my 7th career win. That's how I tend to approach most races these days, unless of course I know it's not realistic. Also, coming into this race I had never successfully "defended" a title either. I also expected that to change. Suffice it to say that

Okay, so we all know I've not been doing any swim or bike training. Let's just be clear about that from the get-go. I swam twice all year (once in the pool and once in the freezing cold ocean) and biked maybe a dozen times before this race (max of 45 miles). I had been recovering (aka drinking beers) from the 24 hour race and this week was my first week back to actual full training mode. I had been doing an average of about 40 miles per week running up to this point with mayb