Until recently, RunTuff was the personal website of Steve Perks, who allowed me to usurp it for my coaching services at the suggestion of Josh Perks. I am very thankful for this, as I did not have to worry about coming up with a clever name or going through all the trouble of getting a website up and running. A few weeks ago, Josh re-organized his websites and handed over RunTuff.com to me after archiving Read more…
The good: This was my 25th time running this race consecutively.The bad: For the second time in five years, I did not break 60 minutesThe ugly: My slowest time in 20 years, and the worst I’ve ever felt during this race. First of all, why did this race go so poorly? Well, race day was simply brutal. The heat and humidity were somehow even worse than usual, and everyone ran slower than they had hoped. Read more…
I can say that now, because I recently completed my first ultra-marathon. Defined as anything over the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, most people consider 50K (or 31 miles) to be the official shortest ultra-marathon. When I decided to run the Bound For Hounds six-hour race, directed by my friend Martha Doody, I set my sights on running at least 50K, and preferably 40 miles, to celebrate turning 40 earlier this year. I liked the Read more…
Prior to 2024, I hadn’t run more than one PR a year in over ten years. I trained my ass off in my 20s, and set some impressive (to me) personal records that are all but untouchable now. So despite running a personal best in the 800m in 2018 and a brand-new four-miler PR in 2020 (first time racing that distance = automatic PR!), I haven’t come anywhere close to my best times since 2014. Read more…
What’s this? A race report that isn’t for Boilermaker or a marathon? I know, it’s strange, but please bear with me. No, not like that. Even though this is a “short” race, it was one of the USATF team races that Roadkill Racing competed in this year, and one that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Ashlie’s parents were kind enough to drive up from Ellicottville to watch the kids so we both Read more…
Last month, I turned 40. While I spent much of the previous year mentally preparing myself for such an event, it’s still a bit of a shock to think that I am one of the “old men” now, and therefore racing under the “Masters” moniker. This year’s Utica Boilermaker 15K was my first race as a Masters, and I wanted to show that I may be old, but I’m not washed up! I’ve been surprisingly Read more…
Last October, I ran my first marathon in four years. It was, to put it mildly, a complete disaster. I overestimated my fitness, took off too fast like a rookie, and hit the wall hard. It wasn’t quite a personal worst, but it was close. This year, I wanted to redeem myself in my 18th state by running smart and having an enjoyable experience. Once again, my training was decent. I consistently was running around Read more…
Four years is a long time. In that time, a child can double in height, a president can serve their elected term, and a person can matriculate and graduate from college. Also, on a more personal level, I can completely forget how to run a marathon. In case you don’t want to read several pages detailing the highs and lows of my training and the race, the gist is it didn’t go well. If you Read more…
1,470 days. That’s how long it will have been between my last marathon and the Atlantic City marathon, which is on October 22nd. Ashlie and I ventured out to Connecticut in October 2019 to run the Hartford marathon four years ago. I don’t think either of us had any idea it would take almost 1,500 days before either of us ran another, but life, as they say, has its own plans. The following spring, the Read more…
The four of you who read this blog may remember that last year I ended my streak of running the Utica Boilermaker 15K in under an hour by logging a 1:01:24. This marked the first time in 17 years that I hadn’t gone under 60 minutes, but was not unexpected given my lack of training in the nine months leading up to the race. This year, I have actually been able to train fairly well, Read more…
While out on an easy jog the other day, I found myself reliving some of my favorite races. Of course, my proudest personal bests were in there: my 16:00 5K and my 2:39 marathon especially, but I found myself reminiscing about one particular race that truly altered my path in life, much more than any personal best or victory. The year was 2011. Ashlie and I had just gotten married the year before, and I Read more…