I’ll preface this post by stating that I am probably the world’s worst food photographer. And this post is all about food. Consider yourself warned.

About a year ago, I started making some changes in my diet. I subbed whole grains in place of refined grain products, stopped eating fast food almost entirely, and cut down on junk food. These changes have helped me drop about 30 pounds over the past year.

They also introduced me to some new foods: edamame (soy beans), tri-color quinoa, and Greek yogurt. Turns out, I love these foods! Specifically, in regard to the quinoa and edamame, I love them enough to have eaten them almost every day for breakfast and lunch, respectively, for the past year.

My go to breakfast for the past year has been what I call the “southwest egg bowl.”

It consists of quinoa, a scrambled egg, and diced tomato. I also usually throw in either diced avocado, black beans, or sometimes both. To finish it off, I top it with hot sauce and it’s ready to go. It’s delicious and filling, and I’m not sick of it yet!

My lunch for the past year has been a similar story. I pack my lunch every day for work, and I’ve been hooked on an edamame pasta salad.

This one is whole wheat pasta, edamame, black beans, olive oil, garlic powder, feta cheese, and a little lemon juice. Again, delicious and filling. I usually have this along with a Greek yogurt, some fruit, and sometimes a turkey sandwich, tuna sandwich, or hard boiled egg.

It’s funny that I am perfectly content eating the same thing over and over again for breakfast and lunch, because I can’t stand to do that for dinner.

What foods do you like to eat over and over again?

Sometimes I question my decisions. And I often wonder what drives me to do the things I do. That’s always the question, right. “Why?” Often, it’s quickly followed by some comment about not even liking to drive that far, that it can’t possibly be good for your knees, etc. I don’t think most of us have a simple answer to that singular question. Like a lot of things in life, its complicated and it breaks down into many different facets. I run because first and foremost, I love it. I love that it can be as simple or as complicated as I want to make it. I love that I can go out and run for hours at a time and think about everything and nothing. I love taking on a challenge and proving to myself that I can do hard things.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The New River Trail 50K was my first ultramarathon since 2016. To say I was simply nervous about this race would be an understatement…. try nervous as a turkey on Thanksgiving. I wanted to do this, but I felt like I had no business being there. However, something in me just felt like it was time and I needed this.

Race morning started early, and I was on the road around 5:30 AM to drive to Fries. I arrived at the start, got checked in, dropped off my drop bag, and prepared to start the race. The race started at 8 AM, but they offered an early start at 7:10 AM for those who thought it might take them longer than 7 hours to complete the race. I took the early start, along with about 10-15 other runners. We milled around at the start line, as the race director gave us a brief prerace talk. During this time I got to meet Suzy and Courtney, local runners who I knew of through Facebook. Just after 7:10, the RD drew a line in the dirt to mark the start line, and we were off on our way!

Everyone else in the early start group seemed to take off, and it wasn’t long before I found myself running alone. But I felt confident in my pace, so I stayed relaxed and tried not to let any panic about the race distance creep into my mind. One thing that was definitely on my side: the weather. It could not have been more perfect! It was in the mid-40’s at the start and it never got above the low-50’s during the race. It’s a good thing I didn’t have the heat to deal with, because something else was not on my side: my stomach.

Less than a mile into this 31 mile race, I knew I was in trouble. I had had several “successful” bathroom trips prior to the race, but apparently that wasn’t good enough. I think nerves had a lot to do with it. In all, I would end up making four pit stops during this race, around miles 5, 7, 14, and 22. I probably need to sort that out before my next race.

A little after mile 5, I arrived at Fries Junction and the first aid station. However, before stopping there (unless you really needed something), the runners did a short mile-ish out and back. I got to see several of the other early starters, including Suzy and Courtney, which was fun! However, it was during this out and back that I realized the distance on my watch was reading ahead of where I knew we were. I arrived back at Fries Junction at mile 6.15, but my watch already read slightly more than 7 miles. It is what it is, but this definitely ended up playing mind games with me later in the race.

I grabbed a square of peanut butter & jelly from the aid station and continued on my way. Immediately following Fries Junction, we crossed one of the long, picturesque bridges that the New River Trail is known for. I’m a sucker for bridges, so this was definitely a highlight for me.

Shortly after the bridge was the train tunnel. I knew the tunnel was coming, having run the 25K at this race in the past. I didn’t like it then and I still don’t like it.

So ominous…

Oh it’s neat, don’t get me wrong. But I hate running through the thing. It’s dark and I can’t even see my feet in there. Both times I ran through it during the race, I was totally by myself. So both times I sang out loud to deter any rodents who might have been plotting my death in the tunnel.

After the tunnel I ran for a couple more miles before arriving at a road crossing, which was also the 25K turnaround. Per usual, I cursed the runners doing the shorter distance in my head (how much smarter they are than me). The volunteers at the road crossing were enthusiastic, though, so that gave me a boost. My stomach still felt like absolute crap, but I figured as long as the food wasn’t coming back up I’d keep eating.

I never got sick during the race, which is an improvement from other ultras I’ve run. But I definitely don’t think I ate enough, since my stomach was feeling rocky. In total for the race, I had: 4 squares of pb&j, 2 packets of energy chews, 2 cups of Coke, and 4 salt tablets. Probably not enough, but I got away with it.

I hit aid station 2 just before mile 12. I refilled one of my soft flasks with water and continued on my way. During this next stretch, the leaders from the 8 AM start began catching me. I didn’t mind being passed by the speedsters and I enjoyed getting to see more people.

It was 4 miles to aid station 3 (mile 16), and this is where the race started to feel a bit long. I thought about how if I had signed up for the 25K, I’d be almost done now. I wondered what was wrong with me, and why I had to go for the 50K. The good news is this was the only true negative thought I had the entire race. Finally, I started seeing runners coming back down the trail and before long, I made it to the turnaround.

During the race, I was in and out of all of the aid stations in under a minute, except aid station 3 at the turnaround. I spent several minutes here, refilling my water, eating a pb&j square, and accessing my drop bag. After dropping off my gloves and getting another pack of energy chews (which I would never eat) I headed back down the trail.

Before the race, I had made a bargain with myself that I could start listening to music after the first 2 hours. However, I ended up holding off until a little over halfway. After 16 miles, I decided I deserved some tunes. I plugged in my iPod and for the next four miles, Coolio, the Grateful Dead, Madonna, and Young MC carried me down the trail. My mood instantly skyrocketed and I felt like I was cruising down the trail. I wanted to dance, but I stuck with running.

Along this stretch, I also linked up with Suzy and two other guys. We ran together and leap frogged with each other for a few miles. We rolled into aid station 4 at mile 20, where I introduced the guys to the magic powers of Coke during ultras. That Coke was like rocket fuel for me, and I parted ways with the group to do my own thing.

Things were definitely starting to hurt now, and I was tired. But it also felt so darn good to be out there. Several miles ticked by fairly quickly. But by mile 23 I was having to make more of an effort to continue running. For some reason, the mantra “it’s just running” kept me going. And so I kept running.

I got really impatient on the way back. I knew I needed to cross a road, run through the tunnel, and back over the bridge to get to the final aid station. This out and back was feeling so long. But lets be honest, it was an 18 mile out and back. It was long. My new mantra became “where is the damn tunnel?.” Finally, there it was. I’d never been happier to see something I dislike so much.

I came into the last aid station at mile 25.75. I went into this race wanting to finish sub-7. But during those never-ending miles on the way back, I started to realize 6:30 was doable. I came into the aid station 5 hours and 25 minutes into my race.

Suddenly 6:30 was my new goal, and I was all business. I put two squares of pb&j in the empty Ziploc bag I was carrying, while the awesome volunteers refilled my soft flask with water. With a cup of Coke in hand, I headed down the trail with 5.33 miles to go and a little over an hour to do it. It was doable, but I wasn’t going to be able to phone it in.

Mental toughness is something I’ve been needing to work on and I feel like I made some real gains during these final 5.33 miles. I had been using a 30 minute run/5 minute walk interval throughout the race. And even though everything hurt at this point and I was so tired, I stuck to my plan. I was determined to meet my goal.

The final 5 miles felt long. I was doing all I could to keep moving and I knew I had to make it back to the road crossing before I would tackle the final 1.5 miles. I finally made it back to the road, and my watch already read 31 miles. I knew this was inevitable, but it was making me crazy in these final miles with time ticking away. One and a half miles to go, and 17 minutes to do it. Doable on any other day, but with 30 miles already on my undertrained legs, it wasn’t a sure bet.

I continued running. My watch read 32.3 miles and in my head I was screaming “where is the finish line!?” 6:27 ticked by, then 6:28. As my watch read 6:29 I finally saw the finish line up ahead. I pushed hard and crossed the finish line in 6:30:45. It was a 1 hour 40 minute PR, and in terms of my 6:30 goal it was good enough in my book.

After all of that suspense, the finish itself was actually pretty uneventful. Low key, just the way I like it. There were maybe 5 people standing around. A few of them clapped and cheered for me as I finished my race, and then the race director gave me a finisher’s medal. We exchanged a few words and then I wandered off towards the parking lot.

Like a lot of small races, this one also had some special touches. In this case, it was a free hot soup meal in the local community center. After taking a few pictures and getting changed, I headed over there for some delicious chicken noodle soup. I can’t think of any better way to end a fall race!

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That’s the end of my race report, but I had one more thing I’d like to share. Barry and I ended up running different races on the same day, so while I was at the NRT 50K he was at Cloudsplitter 50K. He had a killer day out there and ran a great race on a very tough and challenging course!

As you may or may not know, I share my life with two humongous, messy, lovable hounds – Hank and Scout.

Life with these hounds is always entertaining, hilarious, and sometimes unpredictable. But there are certain unique aspects to owning a bloodhound. You know you’re sharing your life with bloodhounds when…

1. Your routine house chores include cleaning slobber off of the walls and ceiling.
2. People know you as “the owner of the bloodhounds.” They also know your dogs’ names, but not yours.
3. You can literally play hide and seek – bloodhounds are known for their excellent noses and they can track anything!
   
4. You fall asleep with a pillow on your head because at least one of them is snoring so loud… on the other side of the house!
5. People often tell you they’ve only ever seen your breed of dog on TV and that they had no idea they got that big.
   
6. You have a king size bed, but sleep on the edge with no covers because you’re sharing with 240 pounds of dog.
7. You know that the size above XL for anything dog-related is called “Giant.”
8. Despite their mess, and their stubbornness, and their smell, they are one of the best parts of your life. They are lovable giants with the biggest hearts and sweetest personalities.
   

(And okay… I’m a little biased.)

Recently, I wrote about my awesome run exploring the US Naval Academy. I was only in Annapolis for three nights, but I was able to sneak in one other run while I was there. My hotel happened to be about a half mile from the US Naval Academy’s football stadium (which is separate from campus), so I headed in the direction of the stadium without any total distance in mind.

It was really humid, which made for hazy photos. Despite the humidity, I felt good and before long I arrived at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. I love college football, so I enjoy checking out the stadiums. And when it comes to the annual Army-Navy rivalry game, I’m always pulling for Navy.

The gates to the stadium were unlocked, so I let myself in. 🙂

No one was around to yell at me, so I went out onto the field to fully check out the stadium. Pretty neat!

From there, I headed back out and hopped on the walking trail that goes all the way around the stadium property. It was a nice path to run, and was just over a mile long. Along the way, I also got to check out a Blue Angels jet.

After I completed my loop around the stadium, I headed back up the road towards my hotel. Before heading out on my run, I had looked over Google Maps and had spotted a few short bike paths nearby. I decided to check them out during my run. The first one was Poplar Trail.

This trail ran through a residential area. I’m not sure how long it was. I was having such a good time running around that I completely forgot to pay attention to mileage. It was probably 1.5 miles, at most, and it dropped me off on a main road. I ran on the sidewalk along this road (stopping occasionally for traffic lights – boo) before turning towards another trail.

The next trail was shorter than Poplar Trail, and I think it was called the Spa Creek Trail. I ran by a box turtle and also ran under a hornets nest hanging above a bridge by the creek. Yikes!

This trail dumped me out close to my hotel and I arrived back there with just over 6 miles total. I still felt great though, and decided to continue on for a little more. I did another out and back on the Poplar Trail and finished my run with a little over 8 miles. Not too shabby for having no distance goal at the start of my run.

I’ll be back in Annapolis next May. I like exploring new places, but I also enjoy going somewhere I’ve been before where I know the lay of the land.

Towards the end of August, I went to Annapolis, Maryland for a work trip. I hadn’t ever been to Annapolis and I was excited to explore a new city. I was especially excited to check out the US Naval Academy. Luckily, Sunday was our travel day which gave me Sunday afternoon and evening to go explore. My hotel was just over a mile from the Academy, which was perfect!

I started out my run through historic downtown Annapolis, which was a really cute area. Before long, I arrived at the Naval Academy campus, called the “Yard.” Getting onto campus is similar to entering most military bases. I went through the pedestrian gate, showed my ID to security personnel, and walked through a metal detector. It was no big deal, but make sure you check all of the rules on their visitor’s webpage if you’re planning a trip!

The first thing I did was go through the Visitor’s Center and gift shop. I snagged a couple of t-shirts for Barry and myself (I carried them in my running pack the rest of the evening). I checked out the photographs on display, depicting Plebe Summer, student life as a midshipman, and notable Naval Academy alum. Then I picked up a campus map and headed out for my running tour.

The first stop on my tour was the Bill the Goat, the school’s mascot, near Gate 1 where I entered.

From there I made my way along a road with a pretty row of houses. I’m assuming Navy personnel who work at the Academy live here, but I’m not sure.

I made my way up behind the Chapel and past some other impressive-looking buildings before arriving at my first monument of the day – the Tripoli Monument. This is the oldest military monument in the United States. It honors the heroes of the War against the Barbary Coast Pirates in 1804, the brave young Americans who took actions against the pirates on “the shores of Tripoli.” The monument was carved in 1806 in Italy. It was brought to the U.S. on the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) and arrived at the Naval Academy in 1860.

From the monument, I ran past more houses before crossing a bridge towards Hospital Point. My campus map didn’t include this portion, and I got a little lost trying to find my way. My intent was to follow the perimeter of the Yard, and eventually I found the perimeter wall and was back on track. I even found a little trail section to run.

I ran along the water around Hospital Point and Forrest Sherman Field. Along the way I saw several midshipman out doing PT exercises. I enjoyed the views of the water and of the main campus area along this stretch.

After running by the water, I crossed over a foot bridge back to the main part of the Yard. I have a thing for running on wooden bridges, so I enjoyed crossing the water here.

There was some construction going on at the other side of the bridge, and I wasn’t able to stick to my route as planned. But after consulting my map (again), I found a way around and back towards the water. I even passed by Ingram Field. I did a lap around the track on my way through, for good measure.

I passed by the soccer facility and then arrived at the Santee Basin, where the boats are docked. The dock area was neat to run along.

I don’t know a lot about boats, but these sure looked fancy. I also enjoyed seeing the names on each of them: Fearless, Honor, Courage, Audacious, Bravery, etc.

The road then led me towards a point where the Severn River and Spa Creek meet in the Chesapeake Bay. This is also the point where the Triton Light is located. It is dedicated to “the safe return of all those who go down to the sea in ships.”

Right next to the Triton Light was the “Still on Patrol” monument. It honors the US Navy Submarines for their paramount role in WII and the heavy losses they sustained.

A short way down the road from these two points of interest was the Sea Gate. This was a literal gateway that had steps that went right down to the water. It is dedicated to “all those who have left these shores to serve our country.”

There was more traffic on this side of the Yard, but it was still very pedestrian friendly. I completed my loop of the perimeter and decided to explore the inner part of campus some more. I ran by Dahlgren Hall, which was already closed for the day, but looked really neat inside (I looked in the windows). It had ship and aircraft memorabilia inside and also had a restaurant that is open to the public.

On the other side of Dahlgren Hall were two torpedos. The first one pictured below is a Japanese aerial torpedo from Okinawa. The second is a Type 93 torpedo and it was the largest enemy weapon of its kind encountered during WWII. This thing is 29 1/2 feet long, 24 inches in diameter, and carries 1,000 lbs. of explosive in the war head. Yikes!

Nearby the two torpedoes was the memorial to the US Navy’s Submarine Service – “dedicated to those who serve beneath the seas.”

The next stop on my tour was Bancroft Hall, which is huge. It’s actually the largest dormitory in the United States. It’s home to the entire brigade of 4,000 midshipmen.

Directly in front of Bancroft Hall is a large area called Tecumseh Court. This is where noon meal formations for the Brigade of Midshipmen takes place every weekday during the academic year.

Just across from the square, the Indian warrior Tecumseh stands watch. This figurehead was on the USS Delaware in 1817. The original wooden figurehead was sent to the Naval Academy in 1866 after being salvaged from the Delaware wreckage (which sunk at Norfolk during the Civil War). The figurehead was given a “face lift” in 1906, with the help of cement, to fortify it against the weather. Finally, in 1930, a bronze statue of Tecumseh was permanently placed here, where he gazes directly towards Bancroft Hall and Tecumseh Court.

The final part of my run took me to the very heart of the Yard.

My last stop before leaving the Yard and heading back to my hotel was the Main Chapel. The Chapel is located at the high point of the Yard and was dedicated in 1908. John Paul Jones. Jones, one of the greatest Revolutionary War heroes, is enshrined beneath the chapel.

I finished the evening with a little over 7 miles. I had a fabulous time running around the Naval Academy. Everywhere I turned, there was history. If you ever get the chance to visit the US Naval Academy, I highly recommend it!