“Trail running in general-and ultra running in particular-provides an opportunity for me to tap into a seemingly more pure, stripped down, primal existence as a human being that is largely unavailable in the banality of my daily engagements as a usual member of modern society. When I am out running on the trails I am transformed from cosmopolitan city-dweller to Neolithic hunter-gatherer. This unfettered state of being seems to only truly come into existence after several hours out on the mountain trails where my being is flayed and refined to a point where nothing else remains but those elements of my constitution that are signifiers of an authentic existence.”

“Going running all day in our present society is completely pointless, but there is a big difference between something having a point and something having meaning. Instead of concrete goals (a point), I am much more motivated by my conception of and pursuit of unreasonable hopes and crazy, irrational possibilities, and ultrarunning provides an arena for these hopes and possibilities and action without reason.”

“I grew up on my family’s farm near Niobrara, NE, a town of 400 people on the Missouri River. I began running there and ran my first road marathon at age 12. I went to college at Colorado College in Colorado Springs with majors in Physics, Philosophy, and Geology and a Math minor. My jones for trailrunning was developed on the cowpaths, dirt backroads, and double-tracks of my Nebraska hills, but it obviously really took off once I got to Colorado.

Training Advice First, I honestly believe every single runner is an ongoing experiment of one. What has seemed to work for me, may not-in fact, probably won’t-work the same way for someone else.

Run more! Whenever people ask me for training advice, I feel somewhat frustrated because I like to think that running is fairly uncomplicated. In a generalized, simplified nutshell-especially in the world of ultrarunning-the more you run, the better you will become at running. It’s certainly not the sexy answer and isn’t always super-exciting, but sheer time and pure hard work can go a long ways.

Have fun! This is a necessary corollary to the first paragraph! If I’m not enjoying my running, then I’m not going to run. Therefore, most of my running I really, truly enjoy, i.e. long runs in beautiful locations.

Slow down! I come from a background of training and racing on a college cross-country and track team and the number one training fallacy that I can identify now (other than maybe not running enough, but slowing down is correlated to that) is that some people would try to run way too fast on supposed easy or recovery days and runs. If the pace doesn’t feel easy, then it’s not. By slowing down to 8 minute pace I can go running comfortably for 3 hours, and by saving the hard efforts for the occasional race and speed workout, I’ve been able to go to the next level. However, getting out there and grunting and hurting at least once a week is still needed for improvement in this sport.

Keep it simple! Training to run 100 miles is not hard: get out there and run. A lot. Whether you’re tired or not. And savor the opportunity to access the simplified, primitive existence that running through the woods offers. Don’t get caught up in all the stopwatches and split times and GPS devices and heart rate monitors and gel packets and Camelbaks-just throw on some shoes (or not!) and let running remain the unfettered activity that it has always been

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