SimpleSoleProject

I love tongue in cheek humor that pokes fun at poseurs. While I like to treat everyone as well as I can, some folks just deserve a little something special.

Since my inspiration for running topics is low right now, I am pilfering from a regional site from Ben Holmes. He is one of the Trail Nerds down in Kansas City, check out his site
But even better, check out the RULES FOR RACE SHIRTS.

Hopefully some better stuff soon.

Saw a stat the other day that said Thanksgiving morning is the most popular day of the year for fun runs, followed closely by July 4th and St Patrick’s Day.  Regardless,  it had dawned on me recently that I had never in all my years of running partaken in one of these events.  How could I call myself a runner? Continue reading →

I am sitting next to the broom shop at the Living History Farms complex in Urbandale, Iowa lacing up my spikes.  I look up and two dudes in man-thongs go jogging by giving each other a high five.  Not two minutes later (and I am not making this up), a group of people dressed as bananas come screaming down the trail.  Welcome to the Living History Farms Off-Road Race.  It is held every year the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Consistently mentioned as one of the best trail races of the year, it is an event that more than 7,000 people partake.  Serious runners to those mentioned above complete a course that goes through horse corrals, over harvested corn fields, through wooded single track, drainage ditches, steep wooded hills, and of course the water crossings:

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Hi to all SimpleSole folks out there.  This is my first post and Wonz might stick this into its own thread rather than a reply to the Training page.  But here we go…

Now that in the Midwest we are into the post-cross country time of year,  I want to add my perspective on training and growing as a competitive runner, with a slight lean to the younger runners out there. . .  MORE

Camp Hero is a New York State Park.  In the photo above it is the green area to the right (south) of NY St Hwy 27.  Located on the very eastern end of Long Island, just outside of Montauk, NY it is a crazy mixture of single track, wooded trails to beaches to bluff top trails overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  It is an old military base that borders a lighthouse facility. . . MORE

Before I start, need to give a shout out to the cause of a recent partner from a run two weekends ago. His name is Peter Sagal and he looks for donations for a dear friend of his.  If you can spare a few bucks, please do so.  Check it out here.

Every discipline in the world has its own styles.  Whether it be chefs, farmers, downhill skiers, lawyers, or of course runners; how you go about your business varies as much as the individuals.  Every fall, usually sometime around the point where the novelty of the new school year wears off, I find myself penciling in a bunch of cross country races.

I can’t help but love the sense of my spikes digging into the dirt and grass.  The feeling late in a race when you have that one last hill to surge up and all you want to do is barf is hard to replicate in a longer road race. Unpredictable weather, sharp twists and turns, mud, damn I love it.  My style and attitude towards running matches up very well with the spirit of the sport.  With a growing number of XC races in the area, it is that much easier to pursue this.

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