The Loneliest Monk

Endurance. Something about endurance has always intrigued me. Whether it be athletes, adventurers, weekend warriors or people making it through everyday life, the pursuit of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process without giving way speaks to me. Ultra trail races and the preparation for these endurance events, something that started as a curiosity, has evolved into something that I love. “You can’t really tell how much you can do until you try to do something...that’s more.” In pursuit of that I now found myself toeing the line at the Bighorn Trail 100 prepared to find a new more. Scouting hike Nervous to over-do the start of my first 100 mile race I positioned myself conservatively at the start line. Once we hit the Tongue River TH I knew that we would spend the next 13 miles climbing to the first major aid station at Dry Fork. Even though I felt my pace was slow I stayed patient and reminded myself I had no idea what would come after mile 50. See you in...

I had spent the last 7 days compulsively checking the weather. Each time expecting...pleading...for the outlook to improve. It did the opposite. Each updated hourly forecast further confirmed the reality of what the 2018 Zumbro 50 would hold. NOAA Weather Forecast The past 10 weeks had been spent in diligent preparation for this race. I had a specific goal of finishing in under 10 hours which I thought would be attainable based on my performance at the Hitchcock 50 and perceived improvements over the winter. However, based on the forecast I now questioned my motivation to even make the drive to Zumbro to toe the line. With a midnight start on Friday the 13th I took that afternoon off from work to get a snooze in before making the 4 ½ hour drive. I awoke to the sound of a wild thunderstorm that would turn into a spring blizzard that would bury Sioux Falls. This same weather pattern awaited us at Zumbro. Tyler and I weighed our options. Call the race or leave ASAP to make it ...

The day after finishing my first 50 mile race I knew that I needed to find my next event. I was happy that I had finished the Zumbro 50 but unsatisfied with my mental and physical performance. Anxious for the opportunity to apply the lessons learned I committed myself to the Superior 50.   Preparation Training for the Superior 50 was grounded in the fact that I needed to prepare for the race without taking away from time from my family. This would mean getting runs started as early as necessary. If the necessary start time was missed because I couldn’t get my butt out of bed it was the preparation that would suffer, not time with my wife and daughter. Next I knew that running the flat bike paths around Sioux Falls would not be enough for the performance I wanted. After exploring the nearby hills I settled on a loop at the local ski bump that would have what I hoped to be adequate elevation and terrain to prepare me for the SHT. The 4 mile loop came with 850 of ele...

A hastily laid plan found us in Boulder, CO over the Memorial Day weekend to break in our roof top tent and scratch our road trip itch.

In days following the Zumbro 50 I found myself immediately wanting to find my next race. Knowing that this would likely be the case I had been checking the registration for the Superior 50 each day. The race was slowly approaching the limit. I have never been to northern Minnesota and have always wanted to spend time on the Superior Hiking Trail. Needless to say I pulled the trigger on one of the few remaining spots the week following Zumbro. It was an odd feeling pushing submit on Ultra Signup. In retrospect I had no idea what I had committed myself to for Zumbro, what a time commitment it would be. The Superior 50 will be a more difficult race than Zumbro. The sinking feeling in my stomach told me that I needed to find a better way to prepare for this race. In the month leading up to Zumbro I had started to look into the training philosophy of a coach named David Roche. He is currently a coach for Andrew Skurka and he had posted a few interviews on his blog with his coach tha...

With Kelsey out of town to spend a weekend with her friends it was up to me to entertain Sylvie for the weekend. Luckily the weather could not have been better. Pancakes right away in the morning and then off to Good Earth State Park. Hard to so say who enjoyed the morning more; Dad or Sylvie!

In October of 2016 I trained for and completed my first ultra-marathon event. The Newton Hills 50k had completely changed my perception of my physical and mental boundaries and I was hungry for another challenge. I heard about the Zumbro Midnight 50 from my good friend Tyler Fluth who was considering the race himself. At that time the date of the race, April 8th, was the most appealing aspect. I would have a goal to keep me running through the South Dakota winter. 2017 Race Poster I ran in the mornings Tuesday-Friday and utilized the extra time on the weekends for my long runs. I stayed true to my mileage goals each week as I slowly built to my final blocks of 65 mile weeks. The treadmill was used sparingly for days when snow dashed any chance of a productive run as I remained stubborn in my resolve to run outside all winter. Being completely new to this type of event I purchased a 50 mile training plan for $10 from Sage running. This would be the template that I would base my ...