Posts

Clouds over the Sandias
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New Mexico Sky

Albuquerque, New Mexico Apartment hunting in Albuquerque. The courtyard. Not so far from mountains. Just off San Pedro. Quiet at 8:37 am on a Saturday. Cars are a little beat up. Not bad. "Don't use that tone of voice with me, young man."…
Mt. Williamson
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Fear’s a Man’s Best Friend

Oh baby, baby - Oops I did it again. I've signed up for Mogollon Monster. I feel as though I haven't been running well for the last year and a bit. I feel as though age has caught up to me. I feel as though my performances, from now on, will…
Mohave Desert
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Hello, Everyone! I love you all!

There's too much noise in LA. I've been back in LA for 2 days, after a 2 week accidental vacation in New Mexico when the car died the day before Mt. Taylor 50K. Mt. Taylor is a wonderful race, run by runners for runners, on a gorgeous course…
Cougar Rock
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Western States 100 – Meditation on Pain

Squaw Valley, 5 am I was nervous at the start. Really nervous. Being nervous didn't make that much sense, really; it's not like I was going to be competing for the win, or even a place in the top half. Still, there seemed to be a lot at stake.…
Me, in the white shorts, 1977

Pain Cave. (Where is it?)

I was fast once. Really fast. Really fast at much shorter distances, like 400 meters.Now I'm 55 years old.I ran my last track race in Brussels. I had a huge blood blister on my inside foot - the foot on the inside of the track, that torques…
Salton Sea, 2004

Slow the Fuck Down

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves. - Alan WattsHold on. We're runners, right?…
Rocky Brown Mountain trail
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Mindful running: I run just to run

I haven't written about running in a while because what is there to write about? Pretty much you just run. Somedays I run fast. More days I run slow. Usually I hike up hills. Running down them is a particular thrill, especially if they…
Eaton Saddle, Christmas Eve

2014: Seeking Quiet, Finding Noise.

Angeles Crest 100 is a 100 mile trail run through the scrappy, tough-like-a-Mexican-boxer San Gabriel Mountains. It’s easily the hardest of all races in California - this assessment is not a judgment call but based on finishing times - and…
Above the clouds
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Quiet, Please

It's beautiful and sunny up here at 7,000 feet. Meanwhile, in the city, it's cold and dark.I can't see you. I can't hear you.Nature is working with me today, as it often does. It's created a barrier between you and me. It's symbolic only,…
Trumpet, Barcelona, 1993
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Rattlesnakes, Wild Parrots, and Meditation on Sound

"We are immersed in a soundscape of enormous depth and variety. Just take a moment to listen. What do you hear?" [1] It's 6:31 am. My kitchen window faces east. Highland Park isn't awake yet. There are some gloriously brooding storm clouds…

Cherry Canyon Overtones

The Cherry Canyon trails and fireroads have become a favorite weekday morning run. There's a network of fireroads over rolling hills, and on the northern half of the park there is also a network of short singletrack trails intersecting the…
Mt. Lukens - trees in fog - April 2011

Zen vs. Oblivion

I recently read someone describe himself as "an Ultra runner trying for Zen oblivion."There seems to be this common misconception about Buddhist meditation as escapism - that it will somehow carry you away as if you were on some sort of cosmic…
Salton Sea, rusted bike.
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Confronting Fear

There is a guy amongst my acquaintances whose stated ambition as a runner (and perhaps as a man) is "To crush fear in all its forms". While it might work for him, it seems to me to be the wrong approach to take when confronting fear. I'm…
Buddha in Griffith Park

Morning Buddha

Wednesday, May 5, 8am. Mile 1.72 of an 8 mile run through Griffith Park.These days I'm paying attention to form - trying to find that spot where my cadence is what I want it to be, my pace is what I want it to be, my feet are hitting the ground…