As Christians we are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. If you are anything like me, this is an extremely difficult thing to do. There just never seems to be a good time to broach the subject. To be honest, I am afraid of the awkwardness this discussion might cause.

Running has torn down the awkwardness and created a platform for me to talk freely about my faith. It is my hope that these stories will help draw you closer to our creator – through whom we all have the strength to move mountains.

God has given me a body built for endurance. Over the years, I have run a few races and met many wonderful and interesting people. These posts contain my stories. You do not need to be a runner to relate to these events. We are all running the race of life. We all have our peaks and valleys that we have to climb and descend.

My Family

My Family
My Lovely Wife Christina & Sons: Chase, Cruz, & Dash Dexter

YouTube Video of 2010 McNaughton 200 Mile Trail Run

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Mountain Hardwear's Corvus Dome and Gravity Glove

Many of you know that I live in the Madison, Wisconsin area and train mostly outside in the winter. Right now the temperature is 10F (feels like 0F). For me to be able to run in these types of temperatures, I need to wear a lot of clothes but particularly my hands and my head need to be well covered. I have found a couple products that have worked well for running in cold weather and wanted to share.

The following hat and gloves are made from an outdoor company called Mountain Hardwear.

The Corvus Dome looks like a normal winter hat but it has a built in comfortable & breathable face mask. I like this hat because the thin face mask is attached to the inside back of the hat and therefore doesn't fall down and fits tightly against my face while running - keeping both my face and my head warm.
This hat is not perfect though - there are some draw backs. The hat is referred to as a dome - which is probably a good thing because it does not cover your whole head. I end up wearing a thinner hat underneath which makes the Corvous Dome a little tighter than I would like (even in Large). The Corvous Dome is made of wool - which is a warm material even when wet and not as stinky as of materials; but wool is also itchy. I highly recommend air drying this hat after you wash it. The tags may have said not to use a dryer (but I'm a guy and almost never read those clothing tags). After drying, the hat just didn't fit as perfectly as it did new - but still good enough that I have been consistently grabbing it for runs.

I have been looking for good winter running gloves for a long time. There are a lot of running gloves out there that work great for cool spring or fall mornings but few that work for sub zero temperatures. Usually, I wear a pair of typical running gloves and then a pair of insulated ski type winter gloves over these to run in. And even then - my fingers are sometimes cold. This has all changed now that I have found Mountain Hardwear's Gravity Glove. These gloves look bulky in photos - but they aren't and there is absolutely NOTHING negative I can say about these gloves. My hands actually sweat in these because they are so warm. These are windproof and water-resistant.

The Gravity Glove comes in sizes S, M, L, and XL to fit virtually any hand. If you struggle with cold hands during your runs this is a must have running item.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

3,303 Running Miles in 2010

"What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline" - H.P. Liddon

If anyone is interested in what it has taken me to become the best that I can be, I offer the following. It is my hope that this consistent training will provide the foundation to be ready on May 5, 2011 at the start of the McNaughton 200 Mile Trail Run.

I have been consistently tracking my daily mileage via an EXCEL spreadsheet since the start of 2006 (which was 4 years after I ran my first ultramarathon). Last year, I had the most mileage in 3 out of the 4 quarters which correlated to my highest yearly total as well: 3,303.11 miles.

That is equivalent to 9.05 miles a day for the entire year. I have maintained an average of nearly 8 miles/day for the last 5 years. The following graph is my monthly running log totals since 2006.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

LAVA Magazine CarboPro Advertisement

The December / January 2011 issue of LAVA magazine contained a 2 page advertisement for CarboPro.Com products near the front of the issue. It was to my surprise when I received a call from my friend Greg Almond that I was included among the awesome athletes featured in the ad. I am humbled to be pictured among great endurance athletes such as my friend David Goggins who actually introduced me to these products a few years ago.

If you are training for an upcoming endurance event you owe it to yourself to try these products and follow these recommendations on how to use them for training and racing.