With September coming to an end, I wanted to briefly look back on how the month went.
The highlight for this month, of course, was the dual finishes at The Ring and Pine Creek, which I ran over back-to-back weekends. I finished both well, and notched my second finish at The Ring (in three attempts) and my ninth lifetime 100-mile finish (first since December 2024) at Pine Creek. I’m still not sold on the concept of back-to-back long efforts, but it was a good change of pace and a chance to do something I’ve never done before.
Outside those two events, I had a chill running month with 261.1 miles total, which averages out to about 65 miles per week, though in practice it wasn’t anywhere near that. When you subtract Pine Creek’s 101 miles and The Ring’s 71 miles, it comes out to about 89 miles (or 3.4 per day when you account for Pine Creek’s Sat/Sun and The Ring’s Sat/Sun). I kept running every day, even the week after Pine Creek, when I notched seven straight 1-mile runs. I’m not sure how long this run streak will last, but it’s working for me right now.
I somehow managed 20,000 feet of vert this month even though I haven’t run on trails in almost 3 weeks. That’ll change this weekend when I get back out for my first long run post-double, and then again next week as I add back in my two weekday trail runs. I can’t lie–I’m getting a bit anxious to get back out there on some dirt. The pavement is nice, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the mountains.
It wouldn’t be a recap if I didn’t mention my time at Big Schloss this past weekend. I volunteered there for the first time, alongside Mark and Richard, and got to see the event from the “other side.” (Spoiler: it was great.) I’m already looking forward to the next opportunity to volunteer!!
I also signed up for Devil Dog…. This carrot, so to speak, will keep me honest over the next couple of months as I retool for my biggest year yet in 2027. I’m…excited (not yet stoked) for Devil Dog, in part because it’s the event’s 10th anniversary, but mostly because I know I’ll see a lot of old (and new) friends there. That’s the thing about ultras: it’s the people who make them special.
Until next time.