Never tell me the odds.

- Han Solo

In RAAM’s 31 year history, 462 people have attempted the race. The average finishing rate is just over 50%. This means that at best I have a 50% chance of finishing the race. Right now I would say that number is much lower.

Much is not dared because it seems hard; much seems hard only because it is not dared.

- Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg

I’m pretty sure that RAAM doesn’t seem hard, it is hard, but I’m going to dare it anyway. I’ve surpassed my goal of $20,000, so training for RAAM has officially begun. I’ve gotten [...]

I went down to Texas this weekend to visit my grandparents. It was a very good time. On the way home I stopped at the Iwo Jima museum in Harlingen, TX. It was interesting to see and some of the volunteers at the museum actually served at Iwo Jima.

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Grand Canyon

This past weekend I went to see the grand canyon. My pictures can be found here.

After several month of hard work in the Utah wilderness,

I decided to take a vacation. I spent a few days in Leadville where I climbed Mosquito Pass, Mount Sherman and Hope Pass. I am currently in North Dakota visiting my parents for a week.

Here are some pictures from one of my favorite running trails in southern Utah.

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I was struggling with figuring out how to pay for RAAM while still having enough time and energy to train for RAAM. Since I don’t buy lottery tickets, I decided to push RAAM off until 2011. I’ve taken a job with a wilderness therapy program for troubled teenagers just north of Saint George. [...]

I went to visit my parents in North Dakota for Christmas. It was a nice trip. There was a fair amount of snow but at least it wasn’t that cold (above 0 for most of the time). Tonight it’s in the -20′s there, so it’s good that I’m in St. George. [...]

Today I decided to take a break from the road bike and try some mountain biking. I have determined that my bike handling skills are only slightly better than 0. I’ve done very little mountain biking and the course I choose today was more technical than I was ready for. Lots of [...]

This past weekend I did my longest ride since Ironman Wisconsin 2006 — 87 miles of the Ironman St George bike course, only 2913 more miles and I’m ready for RAAM. My legs and energy level felt good, but my low back and shoulder were very tight. This is going to be [...]