My Ten Answers To Ten Questions Runners Should Never Be Asked

Question: Did you win your race?

Answer: Yes, I win every single race I run.  That’s sarcasm. No, I didn't.  That’s not why I run.  I don’t run to win the race.  The only person I’m racing against is myself.  My goal is to perform my best and improve myself as a runner with every race I run.  And I need to be enjoying myself.  The moment I start taking it too seriously, that's when the fun disappears.  And if that happens, what's the point?  I run to relieve stress, not cause it.  I care about my time and how far I run, but I don't care about running farther and faster than other people.  My peers can do their thing, and I'll do mine.  I'm supportive of my running friends and everything they accomplish, but I don't feel the urge to try to upstage them.  Everyone has their own life and their own stuff going on.  I don’t care about being better than other people.  I’m there for the experience.

Question: Are you fast?

Answer: I don’t know.  Not really.  But maybe a little?  My typical marathon finish time is around four hours, and my typical half marathon finish time is around an hour and forty minutes.  However, life happens, and I get busy.  If I'm not running as many miles as I'd like, these times might be slower.  It's not that I don't want to be running, it's just sometimes other things like fatherhood and work take over my reality and leave me with very little energy, time, and motivation to go out and run.  It ebbs and flows, but I always find myself back out there.  When I run ultramarathons, I run anywhere from ten to nineteen-minute miles, and I’m out there all day, and into the night, sometimes.

Question: Aren't you worried that you'll have bad knees?

Answer: No.  And anyone who tells me that I’m going to have bad knees from running is probably just saying that because they’re a naysayer.  If bitter people see you doing something that makes you happy, they'll say anything they can to be a buzzkill.  I’ve run thousands of miles on pavement and trails, and my knees are fine.  It’s all about having the proper form.  Stomping down too hard, especially on pavement, can increase joint pain, so the trick is to have your steps be as light as possible to minimize impact.  Having proper footwear that fits your running style helps too.

Question: Are you still into that running thing?

Answer: Yes.  Don’t call it a “thing” like it’s just a weird phase I’m going through.  I've been running for sixteen years.  It is part of my life, my story, and my identity.  Eventually the day will come when I can no longer run.  Hopefully that will be later rather than sooner.  But I plan on making running part of my reality in one way or another for the rest of my life.

Question: How was your fifty-mile marathon?

Answer: It was good.  I thought a marathon was fifty miles long, but I found out later that it’s 26.2 miles long.  No wonder everyone was giving me a weird look when I turned around at the finish line and kept going the other way.  All sarcasm aside, a marathon is 26.2 miles.  Any other distance?  Not a marathon.

Question: Isn't it too cold to go for a run?

Answer: I ran the St. Croix Winter Ultra 40-miler through a winter night in Minnesota when the temperature was seven degrees below zero Fahrenheit.  Does that answer your question?  I run better in the cold.  You can think of me as being like a Siberian husky or a polar bear.  The colder the better if I'm outside being active.  Heat on the other hand, that's a different story.  Heat is a major obstacle for me while running.  It's forced me out of a couple of ultramarathons.  But finishing a 50K in Mount Shasta when it was 103 degrees, even if it took me eight hours, was pretty cool.

Question: Is it safe to run at your age?

Answer: Yes, it is.  Anyone at any age can run as much as they damn well please.  I've seen people in their sixties finish ultramarathons and people in their eighties and nineties finish marathons.  It's also really cool to see young kids running races and getting started young.  I'm sure it builds their confidence, just like being a skier did for me as a kid.

Question: So, if you're a runner, you must eat really healthy, right?

Answer: Is eating an entire package of Chips Ahoy! Chocolate chip cookies during a winter ultra eating healthy?  Pushing the sarcasm aside again, I don't have any strict dietary rules that I follow.  Everything in moderation.  I try to be conscious of my calories to an extent, and I make sure to include all the food groups on a regular basis.  I enjoy pineapple, avocado, apples, and a good salad.  But I equally enjoy cookies, doughnuts, and French fries.  

Question: Are you going to do the Barkley Marathons?

Answer: Yeah, it’s going to be my next ultramarathon.  St. Croix and the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 just weren’t enough.  More sarcasm.  The Barkley is in a whole category of it's own.  I've learned to never say never, but I would say it's unlikely that you'll ever find me in Frozen Head State Park waiting for Laz to light up a cigarette and start the race.

Question: If you run 100-mile races, you can probably run a marathon really fast, right?

Answer: I actually get this one a lot, so I’ll give a serious answer.  Not necessarily.  Running a 100-mile race is a completely different experience than running a road marathon.  When I run ultramarathons, sometimes I have time goals, but the ultimate goal is to finish.  When I’m out there on the trails and climbing and descending constantly, I’m not running the whole time.  There’s a lot of hiking involved.  That helps to keep my legs strong, but it doesn’t mean I can be a speed demon on flat and paved surfaces.  I usually go for right around a four-hour finish time when I run a marathon.  If I want to run faster marathons, I’ll need to start doing more speedwork. 

Single Day Adventures

Mammoth Mountain is one of my favorite places to visit.  It is a skier and snowboarder's dream.  The resort includes a gondola that patrons can ride to the summit of the mountain at 11,053 feet and be treated to stunning panoramic views of the Eastern Sierras. The mountain typically receives around 400 inches of snow per year, and features 3,500 acres of skiable terrain.  I know a handful of people who would gladly take me up on my offer if I were to invite them on a trip to Mammoth.  Where I would probably lose them is if I told them we were going to make it a single day trip.  That means we would drive five and a half hours to get there, snowboard for a while, then drive five and a half hours back home all in one day.  It sounds crazy, but a few weeks ago, I did just that.  

My neighborhood in Laguna Niguel was dead silent as I packed my car up with my snowboarding gear outside.  Aidan and Samantha were sound asleep in our townhouse.  I took off around 3:45 AM and made my way through Orange County and the Los Angeles area, finally getting onto the 395 freeway in Mojave.  The 395 runs all the way to the Canadian border, but I've always thought of it as the road to Mammoth and the Eastern Sierras.  I followed the remote highway through Owen's Valley, and enjoyed the scenery when the sun eventually came up.  Normally sunrises energize me, but shortly after I crossed into Inyo County, I was nodding off.  Even though it would delay my arrival time to Mammoth, I decided to pull off the road into a rest area to take a nap.  Better to play it safe.  I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  Across the street from the entrance to the rest area was a single gas station.  Other than that, it was open land with mountains in the distance all around me.

After about an hour of napping in the front seat of my car, I dropped into the nearby gas station for a hot cup of coffee, and continued the journey.  I passed through Lone Pine, and rolled into Bishop, where I stopped at a doughnut shop to get something to eat for the road.  On my way out, I encountered Catra Corbett standing outside of the Starbucks next door.  Catra is a well known ultramarathon runner who lives in the area.  I had met her at a few races over the years, and I knew she lived in Bishop, but I didn't think I would be running into her, so that was a cool surprise.  With her pink hair and colorful clothing, she was hard to miss.  We chatted for a few minutes about running before we bade each other farewell, and I hit the road once again.  I finally arrived at Mammoth around 10:15 AM.  The weather was pretty cloudy with a few flurries flying around, and the temperature was pretty cold, right around the freezing mark.  Heavier snow was expected to arrive later on in the late afternoon, but I planned to be on my way home by then.  

It was a great day on the mountain.  The snow was good, and there was a decent amount of people, but it wasn't overly crowded.  I went down my favorite run a few times, which is the Upper Road Runner.  The run begins at the summit, winds along the side of the mountain, and ends at the main lodge where the base of the mountain is.  The snow came earlier in the day than expected, and by 2:30 PM, it was a full on powder day.  It had been a while since I snowboarded in conditions like this, and I was having a blast.  It was super cool that the snow arrived early, but it was also important to be careful with timing.  I needed to be back on my way before the roads became too snowy.  I was able to get about five hours of boarding in all together.  On the way out of town, I stopped in the village to buy a couple of souvenirs.  Aidan has a whole collection of stuffed animals, and a Wholly Mammoth one was a perfect addition.

On the return trip, I made it about halfway from Mammoth Lakes to Bishop before I needed to pull over and nap again.  This time I stopped in a turnout off the freeway where motorists could stop and admire views of Mount Morrison.  I slept a little deeper this time, and woke up after an hour and a half in a bit of a daze.  When I arrived in Lone Pine, I stopped for some dinner at Mount Whitney Restaurant, which was always a big hit with me and my hiking buddies after a trip to the Eastern Sierras.  The remainder of the drive was long and tiring, but I finally made it back home around 11:30 PM.  

So, yes, I did Mammoth in one day from Southern Orange County.  Was it exhausting? Yes.  But was it worth it? Hell yes! A lot of people would probably disagree and think I'm nuts, but I enjoyed every bit of that trip.  It's just the way my mind works.  I guess that's what nine years of running ultramarathons will do to a guy's outlook.  Ultrarunners experience a lot in one day when they race.  A fifty-mile race typically takes runners anywhere between ten and sixteen hours to complete.  Not only is that a pretty long distance to cover on foot in a single day, but every emotion imaginable is often felt along the way.  It's like living an entire lifetime in one day.  A lot happens.  This experience is part of what keeps most ultrarunners coming back for more, including myself.  We like packing as much into a single day as we can.  We like living multiple days of life in one day.  It gives us a thrill.  This same logic applies to other areas of my life, such as day trips to Mammoth, and single day work trips up to the Bay Area.  To me, spending eleven hours in the car enjoying the California scenery, snowboarding for five hours, napping in the car, eating at restaurants in small towns, and having time to just unwind was an awesome adventure.  And my favorite part is I can do it all in one day, then come home and be with Samantha and Aidan.  It makes my heart feel full.  Same thing with work travel.  I love waking up in the wee hours of the morning, catching a flight to San Jose, being with my team for a day, then flying back home that night so I can be with my family.  Don't get me wrong, I would also be into the occasional overnight trip so I can be less exhausted, but if I can have a single day adventure, that's my preference.  It's the best way I can make as much time for everything as I can.  Does that make me nuts? Maybe a little bit.  But that's the way I like it!