I’ve been writing this year-end recap in long-form blog style since 2020.

  • In 2020, I set goals to run consistently all year and accomplished those despite the pandemic and my drinking habits.
  • In 2021, I had to overcome significant emotional hardship to enjoy my first year back in racing after the pandemic.
  • In 2022, I focused nearly exclusively on running and had my best year of consistent running.

As you’ll read below, 2023 was marked by highs like racing the Barkley Marathons, PRing 50 and 100 miles, starting a podcast, and getting my first brand partnership, but also a big low of being injured for four months.

Goals

I had one goal in 2023: Run the Barkley Marathons as best I could. Did I accomplish it? Partially. Read more about my expierence at the Barkley. After Barkley, everything else is gravy.

But the numbers also matter. Let’s quantify this year, with comparisons to last year’s numbers (my best yet).

  • Milage: 2125 miles (2022: 2617 miles)
  • Vert: 417,569 feet (2022: 540,515 feet)
  • Time Spent Running: 556hr 30min (2022: 625hr 59min)
  • Injury Time: 4 months (2022: None)
  • PRs:
    • 5K in Colorado (22:39)
    • 50 Miler at Avalon 50M 9:04:37 (short course)
    • 100 Miler at Ring the Springs 100M in 26:38:22
    • Niwot’s Challenge 50M in 27:10 (4th finish)

Racing

After Barkley, I was pretty chill about racing this year. That really made the year quite enjoyable, until the injury of course.

  • Avalon 50 Miler on Santa Catalina Island.
  • Barkley Marathons (Frozen Head State Park, TN in March): 2 loops in 28:30. Spent 90 minutes shivering in a car. Got out and navigated out of my mind well on loop two. I want to go back.
  • Niwot’s Challenge (Mountains West of Denver in May): 50M finish in 27:10. Went in chill. Had some nerves about doing the 100M. Then didn’t go for it. Then regretted it.
  • Dash ‘n’ Dine 5K Series (Boulder Reservoir in May): I love running this series of 4 (used to be 6) 5Ks in the lead up to BolderBoulder every year. This year, I got a series award for points, which was cool.
  • BolderBoulder 10K (Boulder, CO on Memorial Day): I raced in the morning (didn’t make sub 50, which was my goal), then ran the course and enjoyed the festivities. with the Breakfast Club.
  • Ring the Springs 100M (Colorado Springs in June): Went in chill. Kept my cool. Had my best 100M finish by a long way at 26:39. Miranda won the 50K! Got injured the next day. Didn’t finish my race report for 6 months.
  • …Injury break…
  • Sunset Trail Running Festival 28K (Gold Hill, CO in August): Miranda and I ran this revitalized race up in Gold Hill. (One of the few trail races in Boulder County!) Miranda beat me by over ten minutes as I gritted through my injury for a 3 hour and change finish. All my fitness washed away by the injury gods.
  • Rocky’s Backyard Ultra (Estes Park, CO in October): Finally free of injury in October, but still very low on fitness, Miranda and I take on our first backyard ultra with the goal of running 10 laps for Miranda’s 41st birthday (each lap is 4.1 miles, so that’s 41 miles!) We accomplished it and recapped it on our podcast.
  • Birds of a Feather Turkey Trot (Chapel Hill, NC on Thanksgiving Day): This was a really fun 3.5 mile trail race in North Carolina. I ran really well, finally feeling some speed after coming back to consistent training in November.
  • Dallas Marathon (Dallas, TX in December): I didn’t have a good base coming into this race, so I decided to run it easy with Miranda. Still, road marathons hurt. But it wasn’t too bad. Didn’t PR, but got my third road marathon finish.

New Podcast

This year, Miranda and I started a podcast! It’s called Running with Problems. It’s been really fun to interview cool people. One of the things I like most is how the conversations can feel real. People don’t talk so deeply or listen as intently so often anymore. Recording this podcast brings it back. We had one season of 8 episodes just finding our feet. Then our second season of 8 episodes really had us finding our stride. Our next season will be recorded and released in January, and we have big ideas. I hope y’all will give it a listen! Find it on your podcast app of choice, just search Running With Problems.

My favorite episodes so far:

  • S2E6 Dave Mackey: This was my first interview with someone I had never met before, and I really like how we dove into the issues surrounding his career and injury. Dave was open and emotional but also super impressive.
  • S2E8 Courtney Boyle: Courtney’s story is nothing short of exceptional. I really enjoyed revealing her story and connecting over grief.
  • S1E8 Excercise Addiction: This one was just Miranda and I. This is the first episode that we really felt comfortable being on microphones. We had banter and discussed an interesting side to our sport.
  • S2E5 Justin Swantek: Justin’s experience with overtraining syndrome is crazy! And he was such a good interview.
  • S2E4 UTMB Drama: After the UTMB-Whistler drama happened, I wanted to record a podcast about it. We pulled in two great guests on short notice and setup a zoom. It turned out great, and perhaps we’ll be doing more time-relevant content in the future.

Speedlander Team Athlete-Ambassador

Speedland chose me to be on their Speedlander Team Ambassador program. This is my first brand partnership, and I was a bit nervous about how it might change my voice on social media. But also, I feel a big imposter syndrome as I don’t have a big following (~400 IG followers is not much), and I don’t win races. But, I recognize that I bring value through my authenticity, genuine love for the brand, and wide community involvement. Speedland makes some of the best footwear in the business, in bright colors, with innovative technology. They don’t make the same shoes as everyone else. I highly recommend you check them out. Their GS platform is the most versatile shoe I’ve ever worn, and I’m super stoked for the future release of the SL:SVT this Spring.

Freestone Endurance Comms Director

I directed Communications at my second High Lonesome 100 and my third Sawatch 50/50. It was great to come back and help put on the race. This year, our beloved Operations Director, Kelsey Banaszynski, ran the race. And I had to step up to fill a small part of her shoes while also performing my duties. It was a challenge, but as always infinitely rewarding. I’m looking forward to continuing in my role. I want to improve our comms training process and look for race-day CommsHQ people so I can help fill in other race roles long term.

Injury

The stress fracture (or maybe a neuroma?) in my left foot really sapped my summer. I only summited one high peak all summer, and I technically did it in late spring. I had to drop from Run Rabbit Run 100M and cancel my attempt to run the whole Colorado Trail. I was brought down quite low. I experienced grief over the loss of my running. I tried taking up biking, but that ended up making it worse (another indication that stress fracture might have actually been a neuroma). So I just rested and healed, put energy into the podcast, played video games, and lived vicariously through Miranda’s excellent summer.

Eventually it started healing, and I started running again. I found running in recovery to be difficult. I would routinely go for a short 20min run to test the foot, then run 90 minutes to 3+ hours with in a few days. That always made it worse. I had to limit myself to 1 hour or shorter runs, every other day. I had to stretch and work the foot on days in between.

Now that the injury is behind me, I’m proud of how I handled it. I hope I never have to do it again, but also know that I can handle it if it does come.

Next Year

In a post-Barkley world (i.e. after I ran it), my goals have shifted. Previously, it was all Barkley all the time. But now, I have to shift my focus and goals around. My goals:

  • Short term (i.e. next year): Run a sub-24 100 miler. Run a sub-30 20k vert Mountain 100
  • Long term
    • Run at least one Colorado 100 per year.
    • Start qualifying and applying for Hardrock.
    • Continue experiencing interesting and quality races across the country and globally.

I’ll also be helping put on Niwot’s Challenge this year, allowing Sherpa John to run it. I’ll be applying to two races for sure next year:

  • San Diego 100 (Alpine, CA in June)
  • High Lonesome 100 (Buena Vista, CO in July)

Let’s go send it!