The Stubborn Tortoise

I met Pamela a couple of years ago as we both slogged through the Brazos Bend 50-miler. She saved me with her 30-30 timer, stories and a touch of Fireball.

Since then, she has racked up a bunch of ul…

Being a single parent is a big enough challenge, but throw a pandemic into the mix and things get even trickier: it's not like you can leave your kids with a friend or distant relative while you take…

Last weekend, I learned that there is more to volunteering at a race than handing out food and drink and medals.

I found out there is a lot of prep: ice, fruit, propane, pallets of bread and tools to…

Happy New Year!

Like most runners, I am always learning new things about myself: mental attitude, nutrition, hydration, gear.

I got a new hydration vest -- the Nathan Vapor Howe -- and really like it…

This one is a year-end two-fer: I talked to  Gary Trautmann, a San Antonio-based runner, who talks about COVID running. He's also a master's runner.

He talks about lessons learned during COVID and wh…

I met Kelly in January as we ran with our friend, Louisa, at Bandera. We were the witnesses to her breaking her ankle.

Since then, Kelly has run two trail marathons and is ready for the Bandera 50K o…

I joined a handful of folks over the weekend to volunteer at The Mosaic trail race, outside of Austin. It was a gig that occasionally got confusing: the course is a big Figure-8 and depending on the …

This is a mixed bag of stuff.

We start off with my friend, Agatha Halekulani Kerr's latest adventure: a 600K (372) miles to raise funds for a church/school in Costa Rica in early February.

I wasn't p…

I happened upon Dickie Longo via my friend, Agatha Kerr, a San Antonio-area running friend. She is editing a book about Dickie by an Australian writer named Sue Oaks.

Oaks needed some additional inte…

Somehow, I thought it was a good idea to skimp on dinner the night before and breakfast the morning of a race. Even worse, I under packed my drop bags and didn't have enough food to sustain me throug…

Yesterday's 30K run at Jalapeño Hundred turned out pretty well.

My mind was right, I had my podcasts/music and the weather was great.

Loved the course, despite the sand (think: running in small dunes…

If you have done any races with Tejas Trails, you have probably run across Nancy Marks.

She's got pixie-short hair, wears cute skirts and talks a lot. (Yes, even more than me.)

She just turned 60 and…

I wasn't planning to talk about how much I hate this time of year, but I did.

I hate Halloween. It's the last time I saw my mother coherent. We watched part of "The Fog."

Later that night, she was su…

I struggled to find a way to inner peace as I set out to conquer the Cactus Rose 25 M on Friday. With virtually no one around, that solitude set the stage for a handful of plans to DNF, which I did.

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I got an unexpected invite to join a Ragnar relay team early Wednesday evening. It was a group of ladies who I am acquainted with through the San Antonio (Off) Roadrunners. We would each run three se…

Running has been pretty good, except that the weather has remained hot and humid.

I bailed on doing the in-person race, The Trailway, on Saturday because I wasn't feeling 100% and I had a bunch of gr…

Orly and Kathy Montalvo came up for a visit this past weekend. The plan was to run as many rocky hills to ensure his shoes and gear are ready to tackle the Cactus Rose 100 at the end of the month. He…

Part of the fun of volunteering at trail races is watching other runners persevere despite the suffering they endure.

On Saturday, I saw a few people struggle through their races at the Texas Trail R…

Saturday marked the first time I've done a race since March. It felt good to see friends and participate in an actual timed event. The only difference is we had to wear a face-covering at the start/f…

After seven months of not leaving my county, I headed several counties away to Pace Bend Park last weekend to help with the Mellow Trail Race, sponsored by Tejas Trails. It was pretty much how things…