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
On my morning run today, knowing I might need some external motivation, I listened to last year's interview with Sally McRae by Julia Hanlon on Julia's Running on Om podcast. My tired legs may have yielded somewhat slower miles on that run, but Sally's thoughtful reflections on her Western States 100 training led me onward … Continue reading What do we love?
Dragon and I finished up a long training block yesterday with a run back and forth across the Presidential Range in New Hampshire's White Mountains -- earning a 1000 mile badge from Run the Year 2017 and racking up a classic 8-week progression. Never before have I cherished an upward trending graph so much. 🙂 … Continue reading progression
On the morning of August 1st, I'm planning to head out from Sulitjelma, Norway on the Nordkalottruta, bound for the Swedish border and my first campsite midway between the two lakes, Vastenjaure and Akkajaure, approximately 40 miles beyond the start of the trail. With only 8 weeks to go, I'm settled into a training routine … Continue reading 8 Weeks until the Arctic Trail Run & Matching Fundraiser!
During my run north along the Arctic Trail in August, I will pass through substantial sections of Norway, Sweden, and Finland en route to Kautokeino from Sulitjelma. The trail's 500 miles, which traverses much ofSápmi, the homeland of the Sami, can be divided according to countries, border crossings, biomes, topography, habitations, and, maybe most interesting, by reindeer … Continue reading Reindeer and Climate Change
I am super excited to share with everyone that the American Alpine Club has awarded me a Live Your Dream grant for the 2017 Arctic Trail Run. The goals of the grant, which is supported by The North Face and other regional organizations, are to empower athletes "to dream big, to grow, and to inspire others." … Continue reading Live Your Dream
