The marathon and me (Eugene Marathon Race Report)

[Ed. note: This race report is posted as it appeared in the June issue of the Athens Road Runners Quarterly Newsletter (which can be viewed in full here. It’s pretty awesome, because I have help from some pretty awesome people to create it.) Given this, some backstory will be familiar to those who have read […]

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Dayenu

The Jewish holiday of Passover just finished last night at sundown. I was a little less than observant this year. I went to one seder (at my rabbi’s home, which was wonderful), and I broke the dietary rules a day early (I wanted to do a dry run of pre-race oatmeal before my last 20-miler, […]

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Eugene 4 Eugene

In many ways, running is an inherently selfish act – at least it can appear that way from the outside. But most of us who run and race long distances spend a lot of that time on our feet – all of those long and lonely miles over hours and hours – thinking about others. […]

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2017: The year that wasn’t, and the year that was

In a lot of ways, 2017 wasn’t the year I hoped it would be. It was supposed to be the year I ran a 3:30 marathon and qualified for Boston handily. It was supposed to be the year I worked away at some shorter distance PRs in the fall after a successful spring marathon. It […]

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But…what if I didn’t?

Whether I would openly admit it or not, early this summer I had been running under an assumption: that I would close out 2017 with another marathon. I had started looking around – against my better judgment, and before I was really ready – checking the date of Richmond, ogling St. Jude’s in December (a […]

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What’s next?

“Run this marathon with me in a month!” “Are you doing Erie again?” “When’s your next marathon?’ I’ve had these offers and questions thrown my way more times than I can count since the end of April. And I understand why. The thought for everyone is: time for revenge. You were so close – just try […]

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Unfinished (Glass City Marathon Race Report)

I have always found that writing endings is one of the hardest things. How do you wrap it all up? How do you tie up the loose ends without putting too perfect a bow on it? How do you craft that finish that leaves just the right taste and leaves the mind thinking on it […]

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Never easy

“I just want one thing to be easy.” I’ve been saying this a lot lately. In the last several weeks, a lot of Hard Things have piled up. Two deaths in March. Major work deadlines, for both Shannon and myself. Running and training rough patches – I’ve had this strange thing going on with my […]

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Race Report: Albany Half-Marathon

Lately, it seems, all I hear is Psalm 23. I raced a half-marathon on March 4. It went amazingly well. One would think I would have written and posted a race report almost immediately. But I haven’t. The truth is, I’m having a hard time finding words. Finding purpose. Finding a point in writing about […]

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The long road

Through the dust motes of this neglected blog – how has it been since Erie since I last wrote? – the just-finished year already seems very distant. A lot happened last year, and as I’m certain I am not the first to write, a lot about 2016 was…pretty terrible. It’s all been written and said […]

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