training wk 10

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // ten

total miles // 42.68

long run // it’s complicated

soundtrack // various podcasts

shoes // asics gel-cumulus 25, atreyu base trail

ran too far on my short run and cut my long run short. this week didnt feel particularly special or memorable. days were warm, day were cold. ran alone, ran with coworkers. listened to podcasts, listened to nature.

training wk 9

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // nine

total miles // 41.22

long run // sixteen, sunday evening

soundtrack // LPOTL, working it out

shoes // asics gel-cumulus 25, atreyu base trail

the week started with a run to capital with an olympic trails athlete and ended with a warm to cool sixteen full of laughs, tears, and processing the future, past, and the present. i am thankful for the run, every run.

training wk 8

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // eight

total miles // 45.9

long run // twenty, sunday

soundtrack // tetragrammatron, LPOTL, jason isbell, the postal service

shoes // various atreyu models

to whom it may concern,

i feel i would be a great asset to your team because i am distance runner. this is is a valuable addition to your team in the fact that distance/ultra running as taught me about having a positive mindset through difficult situations, a drive to keep going when then going gets tough, a healthy lack of awareness of what can and cannot be done. i dream big, create out of joy, and set my mind to a task to finish. even when i am at mile 17 of a 20 mile long run and i want to turn home and call it quits, i know the reward of finishing to worth it. i know making those choices to continue on in the depths of the pain cave are what create amazing victories, in the long and short term. also, i usually have snacks with me, so that’s a plus.

thank you, alxndr

training wk 7

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // seven

total miles // 37.78

long run // twelve, saturday

soundtrack // tetragrammatron, the national, further seems forever

shoes // asics gel-cumulus 25

going back to your hometown is weird, for a lot reasons. you realize how much it has changed since you were there, how much it has stayed the same, how much it has grown, and how much it has shrank. landmarks that seems tens of miles away turn out to be less than a 5k and piecing together a long run becomes a project in historical navigation from memory.

training wk 4

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // four

total miles // 30.09

long run // eight, friday

soundtrack // the national, modest mouse, death cab for cutie, LPOTL

shoes // atreyu daily trainer

listening to my body this week. ran further than i was supposed to a couple days. didnt run a couple days i was supposed it and ran a couple days when i wasn't. body felt better than it has.

training wk 3

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // 3

total miles // 33.13

long run // thirteen point one, sunday

sound track // the national, LPOTL

shoes // atreyu daily trainer, hoka rincon 3

the highlight of the week was definitely running the new course for a legendary local half marathon [perk of the day job] and taking in the time alone. i have been doing a lot of thinking about the future and my priorities, my goals and hopes, the big and the small. i cried a couple times this week while running. cold, frozen lines across my face, met with a smile.

training wk 2

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // two

total miles // 32.20

long run // ten miles, sunday

sound track // LPOTL, the drop, mxpx, the national

shoes // altra superior 5, atreyu daily trainer

ten mile long run snuck in during sunday nap time. frozen beard, fogged goggles, sweaty hands. highlight of the week was wednesday evening’s hour of hills in fresh snow and finding some single-track trails that i had never run before.

this week felt emotional. not completely sure why and i guess it’s not any different than the last few weeks. therapy has been digging into a couple things and running has organized, jumbled, and reorganized a lot of those things. the concepts have been consistently causing tears during the higher mileage runs. i am assuming this will continue and i look forward to it.

training wk 1

in

thoughts on/during training for a 50k

week // one

total miles // 41.24 [20.24 on 01/01]

long run // eight miles, sunday

sound track // the national, mewithoutYou, LPOTL, rich roll

shoes // altra superior 5

eight mile long run this week. my head was in the clouds, but a slight discomfort in my knee kept me grounded in my pace and distance. i am trying to be more mindful of my body; while running, while sitting, while stretching, while strength training, while showing up daily in my meditation practice and my miles. eight miles felt comfortable and simple enough.

i want to be sweet this year

i want to be sweet this year.in words. in actions. in intentions. in interactions and emails and hellos and goodbyes.

i want to be sweet this year. in hard conversations. in accountability. in good mornings in good nights. in the end of a hard week where i just want to quit everything and run away but i can’t because i have a mortgage and a marriage and a daughter and debt and bigger goals than just today.

i want to be sweet this year. in questions. in answers. in the little and the big. in nothing and everything

i want to be sweet this year. with you. with everyone. with myself and all my complexities and simplifications and memories and fears and joys and every day.

i want to be sweet this year

from the cutting room floor: half & half challenge

for my day job, i was tasked with creating a brand for a double half-marathon challenge. the challenge is running a half in minnesota on saturday and then running one in wisconsin the next day. our team went with a dairy theme, embracing wisconsin’s identity as the dairy state and subtly nodding to minnesota’s storied pearl history. i created a few different options with varying degrees of cow and/or milk iconography. ultimately, we went with a different direction for the brand, but i really liked how this one turned out.