About seven years ago I wrote what I still consider to be my most personally meaningful blog post. It was about my (then 8 year old) daughter, Emma, and how she had just run the cross country race of her life. Emma was never the fastest runner as a kid, in fact she quit cross country […]
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel good or bad about all of this…
April 30, 2020 By 3 Comments
Spring is typically an exceptionally busy time of year for me. Between teaching and coaching (track and field, soccer), it’s rare that I get much time to myself. For obvious reasons, this year has been a bit different. Lockdowns associated with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have brought life to a halt for almost all of us, […]
The Mysterious Sleeping Injury
July 29, 2019 By 5 Comments
There’s no doubt that as I have gotten older, my body has changed. Coming back to running a bunch this summer, I’ve noticed that I tend to be stiffer on the days after a hard workout, and I pay the price if I don’t take days off. I’ve had fairly regular lower back issues, though […]
The Ghost of Races Past: Reconciling an Older, Less Fit Body With Expectations Based on Prior Performances
July 17, 2019 By 6 Comments
On July 4th I ran my first timed race in probably five years, and I’m pretty sure it was the first race I’ve run since I turned 40. I’ve done a few Ragnar relays with friends in the interim, but nothing where it was just me against the clock. The race was held in Bridgton, […]
The Benefits of Stepping Away From Running For a Bit
July 14, 2017 By 9 Comments
This morning I ran five miles at a pace of just over 8:00 per mile, then finished with a mile or so of hill repeats. A few years ago this would have been a pretty standard type of workout for me, but on this day it was a big step forward to feeling like a […]
Pete’s Year 2015 in Review: Teaching, Blogging, and Running
January 22, 2016 By 12 Comments
2015 was a year of change for me on both the running and personal fronts. I decided in late 2014 that the full-time blogging thing was not for me. Though the freedom of being my own boss was great, and financially I was doing well, I realized that as a career it was just not […]
I Was Bitten By a Dog While Running: A Christmas Story
December 29, 2015 By 27 Comments
My most unexpected Christmas gift this year was a 3 hour trip to the emergency room. Fortunately Santa Claus was not the giver of this cruel present. Rather, it was received from a large German Shepherd that I encountered while out on a run on Christmas Day. I’ve been running on the trails behind my house for […]
So That Bit About Me Not Racing This Fall…I Blame My Wife
September 29, 2015 By 2 Comments
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about how I had no plans to race this Fall. Life has gotten incredibly busy with my return to school (though I’m having a blast!), and it seems like most of my time these days is spent either in a classroom or on a soccer field […]
Running Free: Ditching the GPS and Learning to Obsess Less
August 31, 2015 By 34 Comments
My relationship with running has changed a lot this year. In many ways I feel like I’ve come full circle back to where I started – running simply for enjoyment, the release, and the health benefits that it provides. I ran only a single race this past Spring, a ten mile trail race that kicked […]
The Best thing About Blogging and Running: People
July 29, 2015 By 10 Comments
Sometimes you need to get things off your chest before you can move forward. I’ve been suffering a bit of writer’s block because I waited so long to write and publish the post I released yesterday. Though it can be difficult to reveal one’s vulnerabilities to a larger audience, I’ve found that doing so can […]
On Blogging, Burnout, and Life
July 28, 2015 By 87 Comments
I nearly pulled the plug on this blog last Fall. The fact that I didn’t is largely attributable to the support of my wife and my family. I feel compelled to mention them at the beginning of this post since they are far wiser about issues of life than I am, and they deserve credit […]
Respecting the Heat on the Run–I Never Seem to Learn
May 11, 2015 By 4 Comments
I feel like I write this post every spring. In fact, I probably do. I figure that maybe if I keep writing it, one year I’ll learn to do things differently. This was not that year. Yesterday I went for a seven mile run. Nothing too special about that, but it was the first really […]
Reflections on a Killer Trail Race
May 4, 2015 By 10 Comments
I ran my first race of the year on Saturday. It was a 10 mile trail race, but I feel like I just ran a marathon. My body is pretty well wrecked, but in a good way. As is often the case with races, the pain I felt during has been replaced by a feeling […]
Finding a Runner’s High in Maine
August 18, 2014 By 9 Comments
The “Runner’s High” is an elusive thing. I sometimes think that non-runners believe that we all go out there in search of the high on every run. That running is some kind of addiction. Maybe it is, but I can honestly say that in the seven years that I’ve been running with purpose I’ve felt […]
How Many Miles Do You Run at Running Camp?
August 4, 2014 By 8 Comments
For the past two weeks I worked as a coach at the annual adult summer running camps in Craftsbury, VT. My primary role there is to present on training physiology, form & footwear, and to do gait analysis for the campers. However, I also get to participate in a lot of the workouts and do […]
