July and August had been off months for me with a lot of transition and not much grounding.  I had started questioning many things in my life including my relationship with running.  For the first time in my racing life I was really struggling with motivation to run. Most of […]

9/18/17: ‘One Month Home’ GlenCoe Skyline SkyExtreme, Scotland

Some people battle with injuries, I have mental breakdowns.  Or maybe more like mental blocks as they are not to the point of zero function but to the point in which it does limit my ability to function to my normal capacity.  And to simplify,I usually go hard in life, […]

8/5/17: ‘Tromso’-Tromso Skyrace Extreme Series, Norway

Over the winter of 2016-2017 I noticed my first gray hairs.  I had just captured my first Sky Series title in the 2016 racing season and I was deciding what to do for the next season.  I had all intentions on moving towards longer distances and leaving the Sky distance […]

7/30/17: ‘Gray Hair’-Comapedrosa Skyrace, Andorra

It started fast and ended slow. The details: Ida Nilsson was there…..meaning the first several miles of the flat start WAS fast 🙂 Then came the first climb into a misty mountaintop that continued to present a false summit on beautiful single-track. It was a repetition that became my favorite […]

6/25/17: ‘Fast to Slow’-Mont Blanc Marathon, Chamonix

Zegama again! After last years frozen in place experience I was thawed out and ready for this year.  Though I knew I was not in peak fitness, I thought I had plenty to have a good race here. The day after I arrived I went for a great 10 mile […]

5/25/17: ‘Disjointed’- Zegama Skyrace, Basque Country

Of all of the places I have run of recent, this one is the most culturally interesting. And this was reason enough for me to come back after last year.  My favorite thing about this area where these saddled motorcycles which to me represented the freedom and happiness amazingly still […]

5/3/17: ‘Freedom and Happiness’-Yading Skyrace, Riwa, China

The 4th of 4 races in 3 weeks……I was almost done racing for a month! The soreness from WMRC in my quads and gluts had given way to calf soreness and hamstring strain from the 3 fast flat sections of Beat the Sun 4 days prior.  On top of that […]

6/26/16:’The Home Stretch’- Livigno Skyrace

  2016 USA Long Distance World Championship Team   I was not prepared for this race but whether Antonella Confortola Wyatt was or not she looked it.  At the age of 40 she was the boss out there and running with her at this race was my prize.  While my legs […]

6/19/16: ‘A Queen’-World Long Distance Running Champs, Slovenia

      Zegama, Basque Region of Spain. My last experience here in 2010 was an off-the-couch-Skyrace…..oops.  That was a super painful experience, with it 15,000ft total vertical and 42 distance, my back was seizing not even half way through the race, to think I could even finish this race […]

5/23/16-‘Survival’-Zegama SkyRace, Spain

When I was 18 years old, I already had the travel bug.  And I already knew that if I wanted to travel in my life I was going to need to find a way to make money while traveling. For a very short time I entertained all the various things you could import […]

4/30/16:’CHINA’-Yading Skyrace, Sichuan, China

I first found out about this race on the The North Face website in 2010.  And ever since that day I had wanted to win this race. Summers grew increasingly difficult to race in through the years owning the Mobius Cafe.  I did more observing than racing.  In 2010 and 2011, […]

12/9/15:’White Horses’-TNFEC 50 San Fran, CA

  Limone sul Garda, Italy I had made it to the SkySeries Championships and I was a major contender for the overall title with 3 of 3 wins going into the final.  But that did not actually mean much, I had to get 2nd or better to win the series […]

10/21/15: ‘So close, yet so far’, SkySeries Finale, Italy

Yes, I had spent the summer ‘traveling’/racing in Europe but that is not what this ‘trip’ is about. I WAS at the very end of my summer being away from home in which I had surprised myself with top finishes in a couple of the biggest races in Europe.  Saying “I surprised myself” […]

8/23/15: ‘Checked Out’ Matterhorn Ultraks, Zermatt SZ

  It looks simple enough, especially coming from the complexity of the Alps. I was back in the USA briefly for America’s SkyRace in Big Sky Montana.  If there was one race I really wanted to win it was this one, it had a technical ridge and descent but most of […]

9/10/15: ‘America’, The Rut SkyRace, Montana

      Ever since I started trail running, Sierre-Zinal has been the race of all races.  It had become almost mythical to me after 5 years of saying no to the opportunity because it overlapped with the busiest season in my line of work.  Friends went to the race […]

8/15/15: ‘The Crown Jewel’ Sierre-Zinal, Switzerland

Somehow, I had made it 4 weeks in Europe, Chamonix mostly, in the middle of the summer without rain.  Which was actually a huge factor because I had been living in a tent.  I was on a ‘shoestring’ budget and I figured I could camp and eat for as much […]

7/21/15: ‘Sandbaggin’, Dolomites Skyrace, Canazai, Italy

After selling Cafe Mobius Jan. 1, 2014, I figured I’d need one year of recovery, one year of training and then there would be a year of performance.  2014, was definitely a recovery year. That makes this year my year of training.

1/1/15: At a glance

? ASICS Running | Outrun The Sun – Part Four – YouTube. This is the clip of the last segment of the Outrun the Sun 2014 Challenge. Both teams were trying to circumnavigate Mont Blanc on a 153k course of the Alps finest single-track. The challenge was to complete the […]

? Outrun The Sun – Part Four

(This is one of my favorite races ever! So much fun!) I couldn’t figure out why this trail race started in waves as there were not thousands of people doing it.  And because I was a late entry (unprepared as usual) I had to put a great deal of effort […]

5/31/14: ‘Hell yea’, 7 Sisters Trail Race, Amherst, MA

I had sold the coffee shop (my business/my livelyhood/my entire reality) and I was ready to go as far away as possible.  By chance, I already had a ticket booked/a trip planned to run and explore in Nepal. We had done the Langtang Valley out of Katmandu, and we were […]

4/15/14: ‘Home’-Spring Training in Nepal

Silverton, CO Winter is here! But we are not quite ready for it. Time to hit the road……. Canyonlands, Utah Zion, Utah The Grand Canyon, AZ Thank you so much EMICH Volkswagon for 3 years x 30,000 miles, running strong!!!!

10/1/13:’Getting Out Of Dodge’-Utah Road Trip

I had a cold. But I also had the Pikes Peak Ascent in two days.  I figured the cold would be gone by then. Its difficult to treat a cold and run in an elite race (WADA tested in this case) at the same time because cold medicines can have […]

8/15/13: ‘What was I thinking?’ Pikes Peak Ascent, CO

Rain. I believe they called it a/the Pineapple Express, the low pressure system that hit Northern California days before this race and lasted days afterwards. Somehow, the weather broke just enough at just the right time, to run the race. Within all the rain and wind, the temperatures stayed around […]

12/10/12: ‘The Pineapple Express’ TNF50, San Francisco, CA

Barr Mountian Trail Run is a great training run for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon and also just a great race on its own.  Manitou Springs has always been a fun place to visit.  I always look forward to my pre-race Italian meal and post-race crepes at the European […]

7/10/11: ‘Bailed’, Barr Mtn Trail Run, Manitou Springs, CO

As usual I was rolling into town last minute for the Teva/Vail Mountain Games race unprepared, picking up my number and looking for dinner before figuring out where I was going to sleep the night. I went to the pasta place and order a simple pasta dish to go. Bada […]

6/6/11: ‘Electric Pasta’, Teva/Vail Mtn Games, Vail,CO

I enter this year, now knowing my limits. Racing is secondary to owning/operating my small business which means I realistically cannot expect as much from racing.

1/1/11: At a glance

I woke up this morning, pre-Jemez Trail Run of the Mountain Cup Series, took a breath through my nose and my whole nasal cavity full of liquid, crusty snot dropped into my mouth.  This is probably the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me. I am pretty sure […]

5/31/10: ‘Gnarly’-Jemez Trail Race, Los Alamos, NM

I was riding the high from Russia as I landed in Madrid, it had only been 6 days since I left the USA and in 4 days I would be headed back to the US completing my 10 day around the world trip. But first I was in Spain for […]

5/14/10: ‘Off The Couch’-Zegama, Spain

I had always wanted to go to Russia for some unknown reason. So when I saw Mt.Elbrus as a race destination on the Skyrunning schedule I inquired immediately and I found out that not only was there a Skyrace happening but that the race was part of a weekend festival […]

5/7/10: ‘Friends’-Mt.Elbrus Festival, Russia

In the past 18 months, I have bought a house, become a competitive trail runner, and taken on sole ownership of a small business(coffee shop). I have held 4 jobs in 3 different towns (73 miles apart) getting an average night sleep of 5 hours(with many 24-72 hour stints of […]

1/1/10: At a glance

My strategy was simple.  Take it easy on the first lap, and let loose on the second.  I executed my plan perfectly.  The problem was that upon the second lap I apparently had nothing left in the tank.  It was baffling because I felt good and I consciously felt I was […]

9/14/09:’Time for a Break’-World Mountain Championships, Italy

Not having a marathon time to get into the Pikes Peak Ascent I had to enter the Triple Crown Race Series. Throw in the US Mountain Team Qualifier race in Colorado Springs and that will be 4 trips to Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs this summer. When I was a kid I […]

8/20 /09: ‘The (Triple Crown) Quest’-Colorado Springs, CO

After experiencing the World Mountain Running Championships I started to grasp that there were series both in the USA and the World that offered prize money. So to fulfill an original goal of making money while traveling I decided that this just might be the way I could afford to […]

5/30/09: ‘Fun’, Rock2Rock, Asheville, NC

What an experience, I was in Europe!!! Not knowing if this would be my only trip here ever, I spent 5 days in Chamonix, France prior to arriving in Crans-Montanya, Switzerland. The running and the scenery in Chamonix were amazing…..when it is the clouds actually lifted which in my 5 days […]

‘There Is Something Else To This’-WMRC, Crans-Montanya, SZ

And there I was in the one running outfit I owned, light blue running shorts and a featherweight long sleeve half zip ‘polypro’.  This race was the Berry Picker Race in Vail, CO, which was being used for the USA Mountain Running Qualifier and the top 4 women finishers qualified […]

7/20/08:’I Got It’-WMRC Qualifier, Vail, CO

1st-Laura Haefeli,2nd-Megan Kimmel,3rd-Brandy Erholtz,4-Rachel Cueller It had been an incredible winter in Silverton. So good, that there was no reason to leave the small town that was chock-full of powder skiing all winter and then long spring corn tours except to break it up with running and biking which was […]

6/29/08:’The Beginning’-USATF Trail Championships, Steamboat Springs, CO