The Wild Dog Blog

Tag: trail running

  • “What Do You Think About When You’re Running?” – Dunes 50K, April 26 2025

    Dunes 50K – 6 hours & 25 minutes – 3rd Overall Female, 13th Overall

    “This is what I’m good at” I keep repeating to myself as I push to the finish, imagining I’m a freight train, legs unstoppable at the end of a race. While most people are starting to walk and wish for the day to be done, I’m coming alive.

    “I’m not the fastest, but I might be the strongest” so I know that if I stay focused, my legs will have no problem with a big effort in the last 6 miles of the race despite the fatigue from hours of running sand dunes in the south Florida heat.

    “This is why I train the way I do. To back down now would be a waste of all of those hours I spent hiking on the treadmill and under a heavy barbell.” By the last few miles of the race, I’m sure I’ve created enough of a gap between myself and the 4th place female that I’ve secured a podium finish, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is finishing knowing I gave my honest best. I don’t want to finish on cruise control, just because I’ve guaranteed myself a spot on the podium. I want to finish right on the edge of what I’m capable of, because that’s why I’m out there. To find out how deep I can dig when it seems impossible that there could be anything left.

    I think about Jasmin Paris who was the first woman to finish the notorious Barkley Marathons. I think about how race director Gary Cantrell aka Lazarus Lake described what she achieved as a “mathematical impossibility.” On paper, she was not capable of doing what she did. She tapped into a reserve that couldn’t be measured and did the impossible.

    I round the final corner of the trail and sprint the last stretch to the finish. “What’s possible for me if I continue to explore?”

  • Renewal

    Over a decade ago in Bastrop, Texas, high winds, downed power lines, and drought conditions caused the most destructive fire in state history. It burned 34,000 acres of land in 55 days. The pine forests in and around Bastrop State Park are still recovering. 

    This past January, I ran my first 100K ultramarathon in Bastrop State Park and got to see first hand the charred landscape that was reminiscent of the elephant graveyard in “The Lion King.” But I also got to see the start of new growth – young pine trees scattered throughout the park, their evergreen pine needles standing out in sharp contrast to blackened stumps and the golden brown trail. It was a beautiful and inspiring place to explore for 62 miles.

    Forest or human, nothing and no one is immune to the cycle of degeneration and regeneration. I’m thankful to the forests that show us how it’s done and remind us of our own capacity for renewal.

  • Acadia National Park – Bar Harbor, Maine

    Is there a word for the feeling you get when you’re in the presence of something that stood long before you, and will still be standing long after you?

    Reverence, wonder, humility…

    This is where my thoughts went as I hiked beneath the spiraling pines that were likely centuries old and had bark the color of the wood in my grandparents’ house and an aroma that was just as familiar and comforting.

    This is where my thoughts went as I looked up at the big, open faced boulders and never ending rock gardens, laying my hands on the millions of years of mountain history as we scrambled over the stony tangles and edged closer to each summit.

    Magnificence formed, and still forming, over an unfathomable span of time – and somehow we, mere humans, find ourselves in the middle of it all.

  • A Test of Mindfulness

    When I first started ultrarunning, I relied almost entirely on grit to get to the other side of long training runs and tough races. I found myself drawing from a deep well of stubbornness and determination to not be a quitter. 

    This is a strength in its own right and I certainly still play to this side of my mental toughness. But to tap into the next level of performance I’ve found myself focusing less on what I want to avoid – quitting – and focusing more on what I want to cultivate – presence. 

    At the start line, I used to ask myself how gritty I would choose to be and now I ask myself how present I will choose to be. Can I allow the ebb and flow of discomfort and accept and move with whatever comes my way? Can I be so focused on each step that the finish line becomes almost obsolete, a forgotten byproduct of the day?

    The gritty side of mental toughness is useful and has its place no doubt, but to make an ultramarathon a test of mindfulness has brought a new layer of meaning and fulfillment to the adventure.

  • To Seek Joy is to Create Joy

    Joy is possible in life but it’s never going to find you or be magically dumped in your lap. I’ve learned that there’s a certain amount of seeking and cultivating that goes into living a joyful life. 

    Understanding this can either add to your resistance and resentment, or it can add to your joy. We’re often more deeply rewarded by that which comes by taking agency than by that which comes by no effort. This doesn’t mean forcing joy or positivity when you’re struggling or enduring something really challenging. It means living in a state of seeking. Is there joy to be found in unlikely places or mundane moments if you look and listen closely?

    To knock is to invite a door to be opened. To seek joy is to create joy.

  • Choose Your Perspective

    At the start of the year, I pivoted from owning a gym and coaching strength and endurance in person to moving my business, Wild Dog Athletics, entirely online and only providing coaching and programming remotely. Even though I was 100% confident in my decision, I found myself feeling a little fear and uncertainty around losing what I had always considered to be one of my coaching “superpowers” – my ability to connect and relate to others. 

    Putting effort into cultivating a personal relationship with each athlete I work with has long been foundational to my coaching philosophy. While this wouldn’t change as I moved online, I was concerned about the organic opportunities for connection and bonding that would be lost when I was no longer seeing an athlete in person on a weekly basis.

    As I moved forward, I realized that not only was this fear unfounded as I came up with new ways to stay connected from afar – but that I could also replace my fear with curiosity. How would my “superpower(s)” evolve in the next iteration of Wild Dog Athletics? What new potential would I discover? How would I be able to serve others in completely new ways? 

    I didn’t have to deny that things were changing to escape my fear – I had to embrace that things were changing because it’s precisely through change and uncertainty that new possibilities make themselves known. That’s not something to be afraid of, that’s something to celebrate. 

    When things change, you can either take the perspective of everything you stand to lose or take the perspective of everything you have to gain. Which perspective will you choose as we enter the second quarter of the year?

  • Raise Your Floor

    At the start of last summer, my goal for running was to “raise my floor.” Living in south Florida means accepting a performance drop over the summer due to the extreme heat. But how much better could I make my hardest days in the hardest conditions? They may not come close to my best performances in cooler weather, but I believed there was still improvement to be had. 

    I was right. I surprised myself with the paces I could sustain in 90+ degree temps while keeping my effort and heart rate under control. I had improved from the previous summer and continued to improve all summer long. I successfully raised my floor. By the time the weather started cooling down in October, I felt physically and mentally fit and prepared to spend the better weather of the winter season raising my ceiling with faster efforts and bigger miles. 

    Surrendering to a challenging season doesn’t mean we lay down in defeat. It means we make the most of what we’ve been handed so when the better weather eventually rolls in, as it always does, it finds us ready and willing. 

    If you’re not in a season of raising your ceiling, how could you be raising your floor so that you’re ready to level up when the time comes?

    Wild Dog Athletics offers individualized remote strength and endurance coaching to help you stay on track toward your goals, in all seasons of life. Go to: https://www.wilddogathletics.com/ to learn more about who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

  • The Best Part of an Ultramarathon

    The finish line of an ultramarathon is not the best part, it’s not the thing to anticipate, to look forward to, or to wish for – the best part is the being out there, the being in it, the journey and what’s discovered along the way. Eyes wide open and let time move slowly, for when it’s done it’s done and I can never seem to soak it in enough.

    Even when it’s hard, even when it hurts – I take heart – because that means I’m still in the best of it, the day is not finished, there is more to the story that has yet to unfold and more to the trail that has yet to be traveled.

  • Friction Creates Traction

    Friction creates traction and traction is necessary for propelling forward. Have you ever tried to run or walk on snow and ice? Without enough friction between the sole of your shoe and the ground, it’s almost impossible to push off without your foot slipping backward and away from you. The power of your gait becomes limited, and moving forward happens slowly and gingerly.

    We often resist and resent the challenges that show up in our lives without realizing that the friction they create can provide the necessary traction for propelling us forward.

    What challenges have you endured in the past that in hindsight you can acknowledge led to a larger lesson or greater growth? Reflect on this now and as you face new challenges in the future. Doing so can be a reminder of your ability to endure, and of the possible meaning to be discovered if you keep moving forward.

  • Give Yourself Another Chance to Change

    The beauty of life is that you can start over as many times as you want. There is no limit to how many chances you can give yourself to change.

    What second, third, fourth, or tenth chance to change will give yourself this week?