About my blog

Welcome to my trail running site. I enjoy being on the trail where I can take in nature and clear my mind. I prefer running in the mountains, but anywhere rural will do. In years past, I have completed four 100 mile trail races and many other ultramarathons. I spend countless hours running in the Franklin Mountains and the surrounding desert in far West Texas, which I call my church. My little Mexican hairless dog, Taz tags along sometimes. I am slowing down in my old age and am mostly running 50K trail races these days.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Hydration Guidelines: Dehydration a Myth?


To drink or not to drink? 
“Drink before you’re thirsty.” “Drink only when you’re thirsty.” “Losing just 2% of your body weight due to dehydration leads to heat related illnesses and impairs performance.” “Over drinking can lead to Hyponatremia (water intoxication) and death.” Have you heard these phrases before?
How about this quote from runnersworld.com?
“Far more interesting (and reliable) is this nugget: [researchers] measured [Haile Gebrselassie] before and after he won Dubai [Marathon] in 2009, and despite drinking at a fairly high rate, he lost 9.8% of his starting body weight...” -Alex Hutchinson (Runner’s World)
Hmmm...shouldn’t Geb be comatose and not setting world record marathon times then? After all, that’s what our hydration guidelines have taught us, right? — that losing weight during exercise can lead to all sorts of catastrophic outcomes.

Monday, June 11, 2012

An Ol' Softy


How hot can you get before you collapse? That’s what I’m wondering while finishing the last few miles of a 20 mile training run in the desert. The weather has been blistering hot; sapping the land of all moisture, so I left at sunrise hoping to beat the heat.
My plan was to run through the Quitman canyon this morning, but it is a 20 mile out-and-back route, which would be too long for my dogs in this searing weather. Cara, Maddie and I are spending time at her family’s ranch in West Texas and six of the dogs are used to tagging along on my runs.