Five Tag Questions

My friend Rajeev tagged me, so here are my answers to the five questions...

1. How would you describe your running ten years ago?
Ten years ago, I was still working on increasing my weight to the point where I felt I had to do something about it. A healthy appetite combined with lots of sedentary computer work caused me to be well over 215 pounds (I'm 175 now) I started running to change that around about nine years ago, starting with 5K and 10K runs and loved it. I ran my first marathon (Big Sur) in 2004, followed by the Tahoe Triple that same year. Once I discovered ultras, I was hooked.

2. What is your best and worst race experience?
Best: Winning the Tahoe Super Triple in 2006
Worst: Running Lake of the Sky in 2007 (after having run almost 200 race miles in crazy conditions in the previous two weeks). It was a very well organized race on a beautiful section of trail, but it was rough from the start.

Oh, and... Ask me that question again on August 17th ;-)

3. Why do you run?
I still run to stay in shape, but it's now become an integral part of my life. I like to have a goal to train for. I also really like the camaraderie at the ultra races.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?
Best: "Go do it" (Tim Twietmeyer)
Worst: A lot of people say "too much running can't be good for you," but my friend Craig said it best when he said "It might be good for your soul, but for your body....I don't know!"
Well, I would argue that [the soul] is exactly what it's all about!

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.
I walked 1000 kilometers with my dad in 5 weeks when I was about 12 years old. I guess that was some early preparation for ultrarunning later in life...

Now tagging:

• Kelly Ridgway
• Michael Kanning (Not sure if he was even walking ten years ago ;-) )