URG at The DEPOT!

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Thanks to Bryon for sending in his idea for an "URG".

Bryon's idea with some of my thoughts in (bold)-
Ok, now that I have my sketch in front of me, I have a two panel comic(2 panels Bryon, really??)... though, now that I think about it, it might be three panels(more like 6).
Panel 1: URG walks into a huge home repair/construction store akin to Home Depot/Lowes in the States. You can prominently see a sign that lists many, many aisles. Maybe you can read all of them, maybe you can't, but the last one is "outdoors" or "garden" or something like that. There are also an huge number of aisles radiating from the entry way.(huge number of aisles? I do have a life you know. Do you know how much work that is?? I did 5.)
Panel 2 (optional... originally not included): URG walking around some ridiculous aisle looking forlorn. He's clearly out of place.
Panel 3: URG has found the outdoor/garden department and is either completely at ease or running around the tree selection.
I suppose there could be another panel before Panel 1 in which Guy and Gal are talking about fixing an issue (leaky roof, broken pipe, etc) to set the story. Maybe it's clear it's a weekend and URG is gonna miss his Saturday run(Good idea but yes it did mean another panel plus one more to wrap it up).
Ok, there's my idea. I won't be the least bit offended if you toss it. :-) (well your idea escaped the trash bin, hope you like the final product;-p)

NEW COMIC SERIES "HAPPY TRAILS" on iRunFar.com

First panel of the debut comic, "It's A Bird".
To see the full comic go to iRunFar.com

Please check out my new comic series, "Happy Trails" on iRunFar. The debut comic, "It's A Bird", was inspired by Jill Homer's flyover pictures of this year’s Iditarod Trail Invitational. The series will run every other Sunday, but don't worry, "URG" will continue to be published here with the same random irregularity you have all come to expect;-) So what are you doing still reading this? Head on over to iRunFar and check it out.
Thanks,
EJ

Movie Night

Apparently some people like a little(90 inches) entertainment while getting some running time in.

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE

SPOT THE 8 9 DIFFERENCES;-)

A remake of an old URG Classic;-) I remade it to adorn the top of the this blog because the sentiment of it warms my heart and makes me smile. I have been wanting to put up just the right comic at the top of this blog for a while and hearing about the loss of a friends BEST FRIEND was a sign that this was indeed the right choice.

Note- I added the, "Spot the 8 er 9 Differences" game after Sara's comment that she liked the "tail wag" in the original.

People say I'm CRAZY for Running Ultras!

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Cold Weather, Digit Protection System

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Next Saturday is the Yukon Arctic Ultra where the temperatures have been hitting -40 C lately.

GOOD LUCK to everyone heading north(or south) next weekend including my coach Derrick who will be tackling the 100miler

and David who is giving the Marathon a try.

CAN WE GO DAD?!

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Is this the KEY to RUNNING?

This video was inspired by a comment exchange between Derrick and Keith at Keith's blog.

An American URG and An English URG walk into a Pub...

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Thanks to Keith for sending me the story that inspired this URG way back on November 18th, 2010. It has been simmering on the back burners of my brain since then and to tell you the truth I am relieved to finally get that pot off of my stove to make room for the other things I need to obsess about. As I told Keith I had hoped this would become a one panel gag comic, however it turned out to be somewhat of a "Monster" for me in the end and I was happy to have taken on the challenge of it. Anyhow here is Keith's story -

In September I ran a 100 mile race with Mr Rajeev Patel, maybe you've heard of him. He came over to the UK and we ran the South Downs Way together... we got lost in the middle of the night, missed a cutoff and DNFd but that is another story. During that race we passed through a quaint english village, deciding to pop into a typical english local pub to fill up our water bottles ( we both carried 2x handhelds ). I thought we would quietly ( in a polite english manner ) sneak into the toilets and fill up our bottles there. Not Rajeev. He walks straight to the barman, gives him his water bottles and asks him to fill his bottles. The barman was taken aback a little at this loud talking, presumptious American fellow who was Indian looking. We both had backpacks on and all the wet weather gear of course. Then Rajeev proceeds to order a bottle of beer in thanks... and necks it down. I very politely refused. Rajeev says "come on, come on, it's calories man, calories!!". I again polietly reassured him I wouldn't be participating, feeling a little embarrassed for the barman at my friends 'strange' ( but normal ) behaviour as far as some englishmen are concerned. The barman is surprised and I can almost see his toughts... "who runs a 100 miles while drinking beer along the way". We finished filling our water bottles and went on our way leaving behind the bemused barman and wife. I often wonder what they said to eachother after we left the bar.

Here's a picture of me

Here's a picture of Rajeev 

Cheers

Keith

HAPPY NEW LEAP YEAR!

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...or is it, Happy "Leaping" New Year?

All URG wants for Christmas

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It's hard to train for a February Ultra in the Yukon when you still don't have any snow for Christmas.

The JFK 50 to 59

When David Bohn laced up his La Sportiva Skylites for the 2011 JFK 50 I am pretty sure he didn't think he had a chance of winning it. David was not there to duke it out with Michael Wardian or run shoulder to shoulder with David Riddle. Like most of the other runners who lined up that day he was in a race of his own making, a kind of parallel race to the one the organizers had planned. No, David was not running the JFK 50 but the JFK Sub-8hr 50.

I think I can safely say that 90% of the people who showed up for the THE 49TH ANNUAL JOHN F. KENNEDY 50 MILE RUN were, like David, also running some kind of parallel race, each with goals and agendas as varied as the individuals running them. As runners, when we hear the one minute warning and scurry to find our place in the mob we all want a reason to be "in the game", even if it is one of our own making. Having those "reasons" is what gets us up before sunrise on days when we want to sleep in, has us donning headlamps at night when we could be home reading a book and has us bundling ourselves up in our balaclavas and mittens in the winter when sitting inside infront of a roaring fire would feel so good.

So I just wanted to take the time to give my CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who ran their version of a "parallel race" this year. Whatever reason got you "in the game", the races you ran were just as important and vital to the sport of running as the official race you signed up for was. Running your own race is the path to realizing your potential and one day you might find yourself not only winning your "parallel race" but surpassing your wildest expectations and placing in a race you didn't realistically think you were in. Which by the way is what happened to David Bohn when he realized that his monumental win in the "JFK Sub-8hr 50" had also earned him a 3rd place finish in the JFK 50 to 59 . Now how sweet is that?!

I wish I had time to list more but here are a few PARALLEL RACES run this year. Please feel free to add to list in the comments-

Kendra winner of the Bear Mountain "cut-offs, cut-offs, I must make the cut-offs" 50 miler
Sara winner of the Oxfam Trailwalker "have fun with the gals, see China and raise money for a good cause" 100km
John F. winner of the Leadville "just finish before sunrise" 100.
Shelley winner of the Finger Lakes "I'll finish even if I'm last" 50 miler.
Ron winner of the Sulpher Springs "just stick to the plan" 100
JD winner of the Burning River "I have a need for redemption" 100 miler
John M. winner of the Run for The Toad "I hope my leg holds up" 50k.
ultrarunningguy@gmail.com

R.I.P. Evan Hone's Blog

Note: Evan's blog is back.. no wait it is gone again, no it is back again, or is it gone again? Any how check here. You just gotta love the guy;-)

As the "Crypt Keeper" for Evan Hone's Blog(google, "Evan Hone Blog" and you will know what I am talking about) I thought I should put up this memorial for those of you who would like to pay your respects to an irreverent ultrarunning blog gone before it's time.

I know that some of you are wondering why Evan deleted his blog and quit blogging a few weeks ago so I took it upon myself to ask him and Evan was kind enough to answer a few questions(he texted the answers while in a meeting at work).

EJ- When and why did you start blogging? 

Evan- I started the blog back in 2008.  I was living in a 1 bedroom cabin in the Chugach State Park 100 yards from the Crow Pass trailhead.  Beside Geoff there was zero representation in the mountain running world coming from Alaska.  I thought it would be fun to write about my absurd adventures in the "last Frontier".  I thought it would be a local thing but I started getting quite a bit of traffic from the lower 48. 

  

EJ- Under what names did your blog appear chronologically and was there a reason for the name changes?

Evan- In the beginning I was the Eagle River Runner.  I am from Eagle River and my parents still live there.  It is a town 10 miles north of Anchorage. I then moved to California and changed the blog name several times after that.  Every title ended up being worse than the last.

  

EJ- What was your favorite post? 

Evan- Every post was terrible.  HA!  I did have some good ones about my adventures in the wilderness with my dog Ernie.  I also had a lot of fun making fun of people that wear short shorts, arm sleeves, heartrate monitors, and GPS watches.

  

EJ- What post still makes you cringe? 

Evan- A couple of shoe reviews I did.  The 2 kinds of blogs I hate are when people write about their weekly mileage and when they do gear reviews.  I am not a gear guy and do not keep a record of how much I run so I am never interested in that crap and can't believe I wrote about it occasionally.

  

EJ- Was blogging satisfying and worth your time?

Evan- Nope. 

  

EJ- Did you take it personally if there were few or no comments for a post?

Evan -I always wondered about why some posts that I thought were boring would generate a ton of comments and some that I thought were fantastic generated little interest.

  

EJ- Did you check your stats often? 

Evan- Nope.  I did not even realize there was a way to check the stats for the first couple of years.  My boss gets pissed about how little I know about computers.

  

EJ- Why did you stop blogging?

Evan- I have a couple of kids (had a little girl in August) and a full time career.  I do not have time to obsess about running like I used to.

  

EJ- Why the avatar of the large guy? 

Evan- A lot of people take this stuff way too seriously.  I thought that picture was hilarious.  A glam shot of me wearing short shorts would have been too cheesy.  HA!

  

EJ- Do you miss blogging?

Evan- Nope.  I like being away from it.  Occasionally I hack into my wife's facebook account and I see how consumed people become with running.  It is literally all they talk about.  I do not want to be one of those people that lets running consume their lives.  Running is a major part of who I am but once I am healthy I am done talking about it and plan on just putting in the time to get better.

  

EJ- Do you think you will blog again? 

Evan- I doubt it.  There are already too many blogs out there.  Also now that I live in California there just isn't as many cool things to write about. People down here think it is epic when they run in the rain or in a little bit of snow.  Thousand Oaks has some good mountain running but it is not Alaska.  I have yet to be charged by a large brown bear down here. 

  

EJ- What was the worst/best thing that you got from blogging? 

Evan- It is very time consuming but I did like to look back on past posts to remember some of the fun times had on the trails. 

  

EJ- How is your hip? 

Evan- Terrible.  I am now having surgery on my right hip (labrum FAI) very soon.  Same thing I had on my left hip.   I have been running injured since August of 2009.  I would give anything to be healthy again and be able to run solid mileage.  My last race I ran was Leona Divide 50 last April and my training for the 2 months leading up to it was maybe 50 miles per week because I had to take so much time off because of hip problems.   

  

EJ- What kind of training are you doing these days? 

Evan- My training is hit or miss because of my hips.  I view myself as a mountain runner and not an ultrarunner.  It is all about climbing and I only like to do races that have a lot of climbs.  As long as my quads are always sore I am a happy man.

  

EJ- Are you doing your 100-ups daily? 

Evan- Not sure what this means?  Push-ups?

  

EJ- What do you think of people who do google searches for you? 

Evan- Not sure.   There are a lot better, more interesting runners out there.

  

EJ- Have you ever google searched another runner/s and why? 

Evan- Sure.  I like to google friends and read publications that talk about them.  I also keep a close eye on the Alaskan running scene.

  

EJ- Any "Final Words" you would like to add about blogging, Bloggers, Blogs or ultrarunning?

 Evan- I spent a couple of hours volunteering/hanging out at the Santa Monica 50k yesterday.  I was so jealous of the runners out there.  I really just want to get healthy.  

Evan, Thank-you so much for answering my questions and all the best with your upcoming surgery.

EJ

Born To 100-Up

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There were many reasons why I was disappointed when I read Chris McDougall's claims about the "100-UP" routine in the NY Times. I won't go into all of the reasons why however the one that disappointed me the most was that deep down inside I wanted to believe everything he was saying about it, that is was the, "foolproof method to relearn what the Tarahumara never forgot. A one best way to the one best way".

I cannot deny the giddy excited feelings I had in my belly as I read about how W.G. George invented the routine and then became a champion runner. It was the same feeling I had had a few years ago when I first read Matt Fitzgerald's, "Brain Training for Runners", Dr. Romanov's, "Pose Method of Running" and Chris', "Born To Run". Each book initially held the promise of being the one magic piece that my running puzzle was missing but in the end turned out to be just another addition to a still incomplete picture.

So in the end I was more disappointed in myself for wanting to believe in the "100-Up" then I was in Chris for offering it to me as "the one magic piece" that I thought I had given up searching for.

 -If you’re baking a cake, the “secret” ingredient that’s crucial to success is whichever one you’re missing. And once you’ve added that ingredient, adding twice as much doesn’t make it twice as good.
Alex Hutchinson,
Sweat Science

Beautiful View!

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