Training Again

Training has begun once more. So far I'm three runs into my season, for a total of 52 miles, 36 of which have been with Ryan Burch. Do you know anything about him? You should.



Ryan Burch has been running ultras for since 2006 and has steadily improved his times over the years. He was just signed to the Montrail team () this year to join me and and several other cool people, and hasn't missed a day of running so far this year. I first met him in 2009 at the Jemez Mountain Trail Runs where I was running my first 50 mile race. Ryan straight up won the race and I got the opportunity to talk with him and his then-fiancee-now-wife Megan for several hours afterward. They struck me as fantastic people and I've been lucky to run with and against Ryan several times since then. He's a super strong, consistent runner who loves the sport and the mountains. What else do you need? Ryan lived in Gunnison all last year but recently moved back to Fort Collins, which is great news because now we get to run together all the time. Check out his blog at to see what he's up to.

I also got the chance to run with Brendan Trimboli today. He's a recent graduate of the University of Washington, and until December was a grad student in Boulder. Now, however, while he's still living in Boulder, he has come to his senses and stopped going to school. Brendan and I met in October at the Boulder Basic and since then we've run together several times. He's only 22, and it's pretty cool to run and talk ultras with someone younger than like thirty for once. Brendan is a super smart dude and a really strong runner, though he has done very little racing as of yet. That will change this summer though. He's signed up for both San Juan Solstice and Leadville 100, which is about as cool a schedule as anyone's. And Brendan's fast too - he's going to do very well this year.


Brendan usually looks bigger

And I also ran with Nick Clark today but, like, whatever right? He's basically a marathoner these days anyway.

Anyway, the winter here in Fort Collins has so far been unseasonably warm and dry. This has meant that we can basically stay off the roads and stick to the trails as much as usual. I've officially got six weeks to get in shape for the Nueces Trail Runs in Texas on March 5, and I don't think that will be a problem if Ryan and Nick keep forcing me out of bed before 8:00 am. And on a final note (ha ha): I got a ukulele for Christmas, so I'll start accepting offers to play for your race/wedding/bar mitzvah anytime now. Just comment.