Mountain Man Steve

I just finished re-reading my thoughts after my first finish at the Iditarod Trail Invitational  in 2013. While the theme of "enough" was partly metaphorical, it would not be difficult to c...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2017/02/loss-and-hope.html

I'm an engineer. I like to measure, track, record and analyze. I almost always wear a watch when I run. Usually I have a GPS as well which tells me not just time, but pace, distance, altitud...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/08/seeking-simplicity.html

Part of the attraction to long endurance events is that so many things can (and oft' do) go awry. The ability to adapt to the unplanned is a big part of the challenge. However, finishing is neve...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/07/schemes-unlaid.html

On a less solemn pre-race note, I thought I'd post some pictures from our training and acclimation runs during our visit to Colorado. It all started rather awfully with Harry, Martina and ...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/07/pre-pics.html

In the days before, my thoughts sometimes turn inwards... I'm sure it may seem a bit odd that I'd be sitting here a couple days before the start of the Hardrock 100   writing about someth...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/07/fading-passions.html

Going up Miwok Trail from Rodeo Valley then left onto Wolf Ridge, just as you hit the road there's a trail heading steeply down to the right going to Tennessee Valley that I like to call "The Le...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/05/scrambled-legs.html

This is not a race report. I'm not quite sure what it is, or rather what it will become. I don't really feel a strong desire to "resurrect" this blog, but I do want to write some words about my ...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-few-words.html

The 2016 edition of the Iditarod Trail Invitational begins in less than a week and for the first time in three years, I won't be joining my friends up north. In fact, it's the first time sinc...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-iti-story-2015-edition.html

If you've come here looking for a race report, I'm sorry Unfortunately, there will be no telling the tail of my 600 mile adventure along the Iditarod Trail in Alaska last winter. I am wri...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2015/09/still-in-this-place.html

For my second preview of the course, there weren't many options that offered easy logistics. The first two sections of the course were either too far away or offered pretty poor access. My fri...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2014/08/second-look.html

I'm up in Canada a week before the Fat Dog 120 mile race. Since I'm typically under-trained, I thought I would come up a week before and at least get a bit of a preview. I haven't done a mounta...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-impressions.html

The Iditarod Trail is an ephemeral thing, lasting for just one season each year. It is also essentially perpetual, renewed again the following winter after inevitable spring thaws. Unfortunately...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2014/03/frozen-tearsicles.html

Well, it's been another winter of fits and starts. Since the "Fear and Loathing" race, I've had a setbacks on a number of fronts. With almost no training at all the rest of December and a single...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2014/02/north.html

The Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing 50K/50M is one of those classic ultrarunning events that's been on my "to do" list for some time. It's been around for around 30 years and follows the ...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2014/02/fear-and-loathing-in-dead-of-night.html

Tales about gear choices, what I ate and where I slept are all well and good, but not what I imagine most people REALLY want to know about a week spent dragging sled along the Iditarod Trail. T...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/12/tales-from-frozen-trail-real-story.html

Once more this year, work and life put running and writing in the back seat. People often talk about finding balance in life, but that state can be reached in multiple fashions. The fine, level ...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-teeter-effect.html

Health food need not apply! On top of the mound of gear piled on my sled, the other essential component to survival out there on the trail is, of course, food. You can always melt snow for w...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/09/tales-from-frozen-tail-food-glorious.html

Whenever someone hear's that I do races in Alaska during the winter, invariably, the assumption is that I must be impervious to freezing. In truth, I certainly do fair better at endurance events...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/08/tales-from-frozen-trail-gear.html

Anyone who's ever done a 100-miler knows that sleep can be a constant combatant. The rule of thumb for most is to just push through it perhaps sneaking a brief catnap. However, when participatin...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/08/tales-from-frozen-trail-sleep.html

The early miles of the race had a nice, familiar feel since it was not too far from the start of the Susitna 100.  My sense of time was a bit off, but it didn't matter much as I was happy st...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/07/tales-from-frozen-trail-losing-it.html

Here it is, the middle of summer and I've yet to make any progress reporting on my "Great Winter Adventure" beyond the initial outline I threw together right after the race. Such bold plans I ha...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/07/reset.html

Between the tone of my last two posts and the utter lack of activity since, I can imagine this blog has appeared left for dead. In truth, I've made little progress on my ITI Race report, tho...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/05/un-pause.html

My motivation for running sits at an all-time low. Usually after a big event I take some down time after which the simple joys of running return to me, trotting along free from plans or expectat...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/04/stalled.html

Daylight savings time coincided with my return from Alaska making my time adjustment just a wee bit more difficult. However, with the time shift comes later sunset making after-work trail runnin...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/03/daylight.html

Despite the pithy tone of my last post, the true reasons for tackling something like the Iditarod Trail Invitational are a bit more elusive and much more personal. Without diving into some ...

http://mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com/2013/03/enough.html