With 25 days to go until the start of the 2018 Vermont Climate Run, I've found myself sidelined a little this week with a stubborn head-cold that's curtailed what should have been one of my peak training weeks. I came into the week strong and feeling ready for the challenge ahead, and I'm finishing the … Continue reading Pace
Climate Run Vermont is only 6 weeks away!! As I've been ramping up training and preparing for the ride & run, people have asked me, "why did you decide to run in Vermont?" and "what does Vermont have to do with climate change?" There are 2 kinds of answers. Looking north along the Long Trail … Continue reading res•il•ience
I realized last week that we're within 80 days of the 2018 summer solstice! That means that as of today, there are only 73 days until I plan to get on my bike at the Vermont/Canadian border in North Troy, VT at 4:30 am on June 20th and head south along VT Route 100. … Continue reading Planning!
I'm procrastinating a little. It's day two of our January thaw. It's 48 degrees and raining, which has glazed the 4th-class gravel road in front of our house with a sheen of mottled gray ice. So, I'm less excited to get out there and put in the miles today, but I know I need them … Continue reading every step
I completed my 12th ultramarathon race last weekend -- the 32 mile TARC Fells Winter Ultra Trail Race just north of Boston, MA. It wasn't my fastest race (not by far), but I had fun, finished it in good style, and was honored to share the experience with 5 of my student athletes from Sterling, … Continue reading Ambition
At midday on August 3rd, day 3 of my Arctic Trail Run, I emerged from what felt like an interminable 25 km stretch that alternated between cruising through acres of fjellbjørkeskog -- forests of gnarled mountain birch, stumbling through thickets of overgrown willow canes, and feeling the bounce underfoot of sunken bridges crossing bogs nearly without … Continue reading What does success look like?
Under a low gray sky and into a steady soaking rain at 9:30 on the morning of August 1st, I set off from the Den Norske Turistforening / DNT hut at Ny Sulitjelma, planning a run of 50k by day's end. After climbing the 400 meters to a high pass between Norway and Sweden, I soon … Continue reading The Resolution of Experience: The 2017 Arctic Trail Run
Tomorrow morning I leave from the southern terminus of the Nordkalottleden just north of the old mountain mining town of Sulitjelma. Nearly a year of preparation – physical, logistical, mental, financial – all lead to this singular effort: to run the 800 kilometers of the Nordkalottleden in good style, with reasonable speed, and without injury … Continue reading Climate Run — Here we go!
The countdown is on -- wheels up for Scandinavia on July 16th, and Climate Run 2017 gets underway on the morning of August 1st! We've been scouring online and paper maps of Norway, Sweden, and Finland to make sure every one of the 800 kilometers is accounted for. Much of the trail is visible in hi-res … Continue reading Ready? …Set? …Run!
On Monday at about 5:00 pm, I took off for my first run with a full pack along the Monroe Skyline section of Vermont's Long Trail. I followed the LT on a roughly 20-mile out-and-back section south from Appalachian Gap across some of the state's highest peaks: Mount Ellen, Lincoln Peak, and Mount Abraham. The … Continue reading Field Testing
Climate Run 