Today’s outing wasn’t on foot but on the wheels of my mountain bike. The plan was to ride familiar and new trails at Lewis Morris Park. I’m not an avid rider but I like trading in my trail shoes for my mountain bike...

Up Up Up. Those are words my 15 month old daughter says to me to be picked up. Those are words that one could also use to describe the Breakneck Marathon & 25k race held on 4/18 in Beacon New York. The course was a combination of monster climbs followed by brutal descents. 

Recapping the 2013 Boston Marathon, I finished in just under 4 hours, feeling proud, feeling tired, feeling emotional, feeling strong. I shuffled through the finishing chute, got my medal, my Mylar blanket, and my baggy of snacks. I headed toward the buses loaded with drop bags and retrieved mine. It was then that I heard the explosions...

The target all winter was the Boston Marathon, so 90-100 mile weeks and key sessions and bi-weekly long runs with one week per week 15-20 miles. All went well-ish. However come late March...

In addition to Iain Ridgway racing at Breakneck, we had Denis Mikhaylove, who beat me two years ago at Escarpment and is one of few runners to break 3 hours on that course, Ryan Welts, former owner of several FKT’s in NH, and Carlo “the Jackal” Agostinetto, who just ran a 1:13 at the NYC half marathon. While Ryan had not gotten in much running due to all the snow up north, I knew he would be tough on the climbs

The trail season coincidentally began with the first real day of spring in the area. Since Warren Street’s friend Sebastien introduced me to the Breakneck Ridge Trail last summer, I’ve visited the trail a half dozen times, enjoyed it with dry, humid and icy/snowy conditions. I even loved to initiate a wonderful chase (I only started it, then the big dogs came to claim the territory) for the Breakneck/Beacon FKT...

What an inspiring day at the Breakneck Point Trail Marathon & 25k! Many amazing athletes seeking to push themselves to the limit and beyond. Congratulations to all of the runners and thanks to Red Newt Racing, Run on The Hudson Valley and the volunteers that made this race possible!

So I went out to Augusta Tuesday to race the B Race for what might be my last time as I now have enough upgrade points to travel up...and this was also my first roadie race of the year.

My alarm sounded at 3:45 am. While I slept under 4 hours I was excited about the day of adventure that was in front of me and I jumped out of bed. I had attended a Mobility & Strength class at Run On Hudson Valley, led by Joe and Elizabeth Azze of Mountain Peak Fitness the night before, and despite a little lack of sleep, my body felt better than it had in a while.

It is fitting that I ended up doing a loop course race following the recent discussion of whether or not loop courses are defined as trail races.  I can tell now that the Mt. Tammany 10 is definitely a trail race, and despite the 10 loops, you could not even call it monotonous.  I was wishing for a little more monotony towards the end of the day (day, for a 40 mile race?).

Photos by MPF's Joe Azze of the 2015 Mount Tammany 10. Location: DWG

This was day 2 of Evan's 2015 cycling training camp. We took our mountain bikes to the MPF Spring Classic Route to check on some of the road conditions.

When Ryan Welts from New Hampshire joined the MPF RNR trail running team I immediately thought it would be great if he led the next team adventure. I messaged him and he graciously accepted the task!  We came up with a date, gear requirements, etc. and soon the trip became a reality and we were off to adventure on the 16 mile traverse of the Franconia Ridge.

Long considered of the toughest races in the country, the Mount Mitchell Challenge presents runners with obstacles before even reaching the starting line--and I'm not referring to the September entry lottery, which fills the race to capacity on the day it opens. The unpredictable and ever-changing course conditions tend to destroy the best laid pre-race plans.

Earlier in the winter, or should I say the extended fall, I was thinking that this run on the Breakneck Point race course might be relatively snow free, or at least have somewhat fast conditions. How things change!  I can easily say that that was my slowest, uh, attempt at forward motion, ever!

Everyone has their bucket list and it's an ever changing list. It changes with age and what’s going on in your life and yet some places or events never change. About five years ago when I really started getting into the outdoors and trail running, I learned of all these amazing places: New Zealand, Patagonia, the dolomites, the PCT, AT, etc. How long would it take for me to travel to all these places while still trying to race, work and spend time with friends or even find friends who would want to go with you!? 

Today we scouted out the Breakneck Point Trail Marathon and 25k course in the Hudson Highlands State Park, NY.  Julian and I wanted to see if it would be feasible for the MPF RNR Trail Team to do the marathon course this weekend but we knew that the conditions were going to be tough and slow going.

As we embarked on our 4th annual winter adventure in the Catskills of New York, the trail conditions were relatively unknown. Each year the Slide Mountain Wilderness area has offered us something different, some years the trails have been covered in thick sheets of ice, other years snow but never deep enough to warrant snowshoes 100% of the time. This year was a whole different story….