Tales of Endurance

2009 Western States Photos

2009-06-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

i took more video than anything else but here are my photos from the 2009 western states endurance run.

run the fastest from squaw to auburn and you win this cougar
this is the actual devil's thumb at mile 47 of the western states 100 course
michael wardian and sean meissner check in
me and carmen wasserman running her 1st western states
the trail up devil's thumb
little miss ripped bev abbs (3rd place) popsicle in hand, nuun tat on arm
ajw cools down at devil's thumb
gary robbins cools down at forest hill
eric grossman after crossing the river
carly giving hal a well deserved hug after an amazing performance

1st woman anita ortiz right after finishing
2nd place krissy moehl! awesome run girl!
krissy moehl w/pacer devon crosby-helms & mother peggy - feeling a bit worked
ajw's feet after western states
japan's finest - 2nd place tsuyoshi kaburagi

gary robbins stoked

Gary Robbins's 2009 Western States Video

2009-06-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

for the last year montrail canada's gary robbins has been storming the ultrarunning scene. he's a new comer to most, but not me. in my previous life as an adventure racer gary was a canadian staple at any major event. and just like myself, found a true passion and in gary's case a true talent for ultrarunning. he's always the most upbeat and stoked guy on the course, even when suffering like a dawg (as you'll see in the video). here is the video i took of gary on the 2009 western states 100 course. gary went out hard and was in the top 10 the first half of the race and told me the lack of heat training caught up to him. he finished in 23:07:20 for 46th place. congrats on getting that sub-24hr belt buckle gary! he also told me the next day that he plans on coming back next year.

check out the photos and updates from

Anita Ortiz WINS the 2009 Western States 100 Miler

2009-06-28T23:39:00.001-07:00

anita ortiz ran a pretty amazing race to win the 2009 western states 100 mile ultramarathon. anita and bev battled early but then she took the lead for good at michigan bluff. she ran squaw valley to auburn, california in 18:24:17, 1st woman, 9th overall. i met anita at the 2008 transrockies, where she was putting on a similar display of female dominance. what makes her win so impressive is that three of the top women in the sport were there to compete, krissy, nikki and bev. what makes this win incredible is that it was her 1st 100 miler! - when you're good, you're good (or great i guess).

check out the photos and updates from

Hal Koerner WINS the 2009 Western States 100 Miler

2009-06-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

this. is. simply. amazing.

hal koerner wins his second western states 100 miler in a row! he dominated likely the most competitive field of 100 mile ultrarunners ever assembled. as he said in his pre-race interview he wanted to "go out hard" and "put a gap on" the field. he ran from squaw to auburn, ca in 16:24:55

hal's a buddy of mine and i couldn't be more stoked for him. congrats hal! seriously incredible running. you have inspired me hal.

check out the photos and updates from

Brian Robinson Pre 2009 Western States 100 Interview

2009-06-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

"In 2008 Flyin' Brian Robinson set a course record of 55hr 42min. He was the first person to hike the 3 major N-S U.S. trails in a single calendar year: Appalacian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest, 7400 miles in 300 days. " that is the description of flyin' brian robinson on the barkley marathon website. i am admitedly infatuated with this seemingly impossible 100 mile race in tennessee, and after hearing how he set a new course record (yes i wish i had video taped that) he was nice enough to give me a quick interview. brian finished in 45th in a time of place in 22:52:47.

check out the photos and updates from

Jasper Halekas Pre 2009 Western States 100 Interview

2009-06-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

didn't have the connection to get this up before the race so it's going up now. jasper halekas ended up running an amazingly strong race for 4th place in 16:56:26 at the 2009 Western States 100 Miler.

check out the photos and updates from

Bryon Powell 2009 Western States Interview

2009-06-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

i caught bryon powell just as the runners had started the 2009 western states 100 mile ultramarathon from squaw valley to auburn, ca. bryon has become a good buddy and he's a great guy with a very cool ultrarunning blog you should check out. powell is the ultimate ultra-geek.

check out the photos and updates from

2009 Western States Start

2009-06-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

the start of the 2009 Western States 100 Miler!

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Beverly Anderson-Abbs Pre 2009 Western States Interview

2009-06-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

the last time the western states 100 miler happen, in 2007, i paced bev abbs to a 2nd place. she has had an amazing beginning to this season. here is a quick interview with her today before the 2009 western states 100.
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Michael Wardian Pre 2009 Western States Interview

2009-06-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

micheal wardian talks to me about western states and shows us his blisters from 6th place at the 100km world championships last weekend.

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Scott Dunlap Pre 2009 Western States 100 Interview

2009-06-26T14:08:00.001-07:00

nuun ultrarunner and author of "a trail runner's blog" scott dunlap talks to me about the 2009 western states.

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Hal Koerner Pre Western States 100 Interview

2009-06-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Patagonia ultrarunner, Rogue Valley Running Store Owner, and defending Western States 100 Champ Hal Koerner Interview. His plan = Go Out Hard.
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Sean Meissner Pre Western States 100 Interview

2009-06-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

montrail and nuun runner sean meissner let's us know how he's feeling before the biggest, most competitive 100 mile ultramarathon of the year, the western states 100. and gives us his top 3 predictions for the big race tomorrow from squaw valley to auburn.

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Cory's 600 The Hard Way

2009-06-17T23:18:00.001-07:00

i am going to make an effort to start posting more of my quick workouts. especially now that my video skills are improving. we'll call this one Cory's 600 the Hard Way

20 repetitions of 6 exercises for 5 rounds. no rest in between rounds.

5 rounds = 600 reps. this is a good full body workout that took cory about 27 mins and me about 25. as you can see cory is just getting used to some of the movements, especially the stability ball leg curls. record your times and as your movements improve you can start to get it done faster - always with good form (even if it's not always demonstrated with perfect form). disclaimer for cory: i had literally just showed him how to do stability ball leg curls before turning the camera on.

the higher quality vimeo version here

5 rounds of 20 reps:
1. pushups
2. arm haulers
3. stability ball leg curls
4. stability ball roll outs
5, leg lifts
6. squats

Matt's Wicked Smoothie

2009-06-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

i've explained this smoothie so many times to friends that i figure i may as well just post a blog on it. it's not hard or complicated, but if you've never done it - this might help.

first and only principle in my smoothie doctrine; never let fruit go bad! that is the best part about letting the smoothie into your life. if you live by the rules, you will never waste fruit again. wash it, cut it into small (like an inch or smaller) bits and then stick it in the freezer before it's too late. if you can't eat it before it starts to go bad, then use it in a smoothie.

the basics:

1 banana
1 cup of frozen berries (frozen is key to consistency)
1 scoop whey protein (i found chocolate tastes best, but i've been using the hammer vanilla as well. also hammer whey is the only whey that doesn't seem to bother my lactose intolerance - likely because it's of it's quality: isolate)
goji berry green tea u (i'm a non dairy guy so i don't use milk or yogurt. instead i find u works just as good to liquidify my smoothie a bit. just add and blend until it's as liquid as you want. i'll sometimes use almond or soy milk as well, but i prefer to use u - it adds great tastes and more vitamins)
amazing grass chocolate superfood (or wheat grass - but not too much! the smoothie is about the taste)

put the banana in first, then add frozen fruit, then the whey protein. this eases the blender into blending things. starting with hard frozen fruit can jam it straight away, and you don't want that. because of the frozen ingredients i often have to stick a spoon in there and loosen it up, but i also like my end result to be pretty thick. just make sure the blender is off. it makes a massive mess and is dangerous to stick a spoon in there while the blender blades are flying.. or so i've heard. as you can see below any fruit will work, really the more the merrier. i've even put a tomato in there before (lycopene!).

i go in phases where i start each and every morning with a smoothie and some french press coffee. i like the contrasting flavors. the fruit in this smoothie pack a great antioxidant punch. i generally tend to taper down my carbs as the day goes on. so starting with a meal that has 50 grams helps me get up and train.

today's smoothie included the following additions, kiwi, orange, pear and apple. i froze the left over from each fruit for tomorrows smoothie.

One More Thing..

2009-06-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

.. before i get cut i figured i'd post an update on what is exactly up. i haven't been blogging lately for two reasons. first i now twitter, which is micro-blogging. so i simply don't feel the need to post as often. i figure if i post on big topics and adventures that is sufficient. but it's mostly because i've been battling with this foot injury, so there haven't been any adventures. it became obvious after an epic 13hr backcountry ski tour in the enchantments that i needed to make a tough decision. i finished that tour in a great deal of pain. something drastic needed to be done. so i took 7 weeks completely off. 5 of those weeks were in an air cast.

now i'll try to make this quick. i haven't raced or trained since after the transrockies race, august 2008. i've been suffering from what intelligent people think is a neuroma, which is an inflamed nerve between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal. i've tried metatarsal pads, new shoes, no shoes, cortisone injections, alcohol injections, acupuncture, physical therapy, no running (then no cycling or skiing), complete rest, orthotics and finally a boot. bone scans, mris and xrays didn't show anything. sometimes neuroma's don't show up in mri's, so after the conservative route dr. neal roberts is "confident" he can fix me... with a knife. so tomorrow at 9:15am he will cut the top of my foot open and try to find a neuroma to excise. he'll literally cut the end of nerve and take it out. then he'll tuck the nerve into the muscle so it doesn't regenerate. if there is no neuroma he will "release the transverse metatarsal ligament".

for the following two days i'll be on my back at the fraser's house on mass quantities of drugs. i can't thank them enough for taking care of me. after two weeks of crutches, i'll be able to start walking around normally again, although likely with a new boot on. this is perfect timing as i'm headed to tahoe for the western states 100 miler exactly 2 weeks post surgery. i'll be there to take some promotional video for my sponsor montrail. after 3 months i should be able to start running again. that puts me out until thurs september 10th... but it's progress, something i haven't had in 10 months.

i will admit to being injury prone at this point. why is that? no idea.. maybe it's poor genetics, poor biomechanics, or both of those coupled with overtraining on rugged terrain. who knows?

either way i can't even tell you how much i appreciate everyone that has sent me a message or information on treatments and drs. most amazing to me are the "i hope you get better soon" notes from those that don't even know me. unfortunately, or fortunately i've seen some friends just disappear because i'm haven't been able to "get after it" with them. true friends are there whether you can hammer out 100 miles or not even run a step - i hope they know how much they mean to me.

i'll be twittering updates through the whole process tomorrow.. while i'm conscious of course.

Montrail's Go To Girl Contest

2009-06-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Mountain Hardwear and Montrail have launched an online Mountainwear promotion for women! Go To Girl

We want to know who that Go-to-Girl is that motivates women, and we’re giving away head to toe outfits for the pair of them!

4 weeks. 4 sets of gear.

· Visit Site
· View Prizes
· View Entries

Backcountry.com Launches Road Bike Site - RealCyclist.com

2009-05-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

RealCyclist.com is here.

Introducing the world’s first exclusive road cycling specialty shop online

PARK CITY, UTAH (May 21, 2009) — There are online retailers that sell bikes and there are online retailers that sell only bikes but, until today, there has never before been an online retailer that sells only road bikes — and only premium, high-end, top-dollar road bikes at that. But now there’s RealCyclist.com. It is the first exclusive road cycling online retail specialty shop in the world.

Real Cyclist features only the most honed and perfectly crafted bikes, components and accessories from the industry brand names that kick start your heart and make you sweat before you even gear up and ride. Best-in-class brands like Pinarello, Colnago, Look, Litespeed, Campy, Shimano, Zipp, FSA, Castelli, Hincapie, Craft and Capo Forma are only a few clicks and next-day delivery away.

Our inventory is as deep as it is elite. We stock more than 6,000 products from 130 brands, because when you know what you want and you want it right now, “sorry” just won’t cut it. We’re transparent in that you can always see the inventory on hand. (Yes, we really do have 13 $4,500 Litespeed Archons in stock.) We believe in the product, so we order the product. We also know that while drop shipping may be easiest on a retailer, it’s never easiest on a customer. When you order a fully built bike, frame, wheels, components or clothing from RealCyclist.com, your order is immediately fulfilled at our own distribution center, professionally packaged, and shipped directly to you.

We’re not going to lie here. Shopping on Real Cyclist is in no way as much of a senses feast as actually running your hands along the bikes, lifting them, jumping in the saddle, and smelling the lube and tires, but at least you can do it 24/7. Each product page includes super-detailed tech-specs, sizing charts, and product images. And, unlike any other cycling retailer anywhere — online or off — our customers play a leading role in providing product information. The Real Cyclist community (made up of you and other riders like you) provides reviews, asks and answers questions, and posts images. An entire world of riders is on hand to share their own first-hand knowledge with you and everyone else on the site. This takes doing your gear research to a whole new level.

Plus, all the RealCyclist.com employees are passionate roadies. Their thigh-to-ankle, bicep-to-wrist, and neck-to-forehead tan lines are one dead giveaway; their shaved legs are another. But what really sets them apart is their unmatched knowledge of cycling, their (unrequited) love of the gear, and their full-on dedication to deliver the most comprehensive, friendliest, and best service to each of our customers. You will never get snobby, holier-than-thou, shop-guy treatment from anyone at Real Cyclist. Ever.

We build and ship fully built bikes, ready to ride just moments after you sign the UPS guy’s e-pad and tear the tape from the box. So you need to know that only USA Cycling race-certified bike mechanics will ever touch your bikes. And if what you get just isn’t working for you, we have an unlimited 30-day return policy. No questions asked. No problem.

As a little incentive for you to give us a test ride, the first 20 people to place an order for more than $1,000 on RealCyclist.com get a free Real Cyclist team kit. Check this out for more details.

RealCyclist.com is another in Backcountry.com’s family of core bike stores, including HuckNroll.com for mountain bikers and the two ODAT (one-deal-at-a-time) stores: Chainlove.com (mountain biking) and Bonktown.com (road riding).

About Backcountry.com:
RealCyclist.com is owned by Backcountry.com — an online retailer of high-end outdoor gear and center for gear knowledge online. Backcountry.com carries more than 400 brands in various categories, including backpacking, camping, cycling, hiking, climbing, trail running, paddling, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and adventure travel. Backcountry also operates Bonktown.com, Chainlove.com, HuckNroll.com, SteepandCheap.com, Dogfunk.com, Tramdock.com, WhiskeyMilitia.com, and Brociety.com. Backcountry.com is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group (Nasdaq: LINTA).

Backcountry.com Launches Mountain Bike Site - HuckNroll.com

2009-05-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

PARK CITY, UTAH (May 21, 2009) — Starting today, there’s HuckNroll.com, a store dedicated to dirt riders and our take-your-personal-best-and-shove-it-up-your-ass, meat-hucking, scab-picking habit known as mountain biking.

HuckNroll.com is an online mountain bike shop. You heard right. Online. And we wouldn’t be putting it lightly to say that the bike industry didn’t want us. The consensus when we first approached suppliers about launching a high-end online mountain bike shop was, “It will never work, the bike industry is different.” Our response? “Damn right, it’s different. It’s the last industry in existence to accept the Internet as a viable sales channel.”

So we went for it. And along the way we’ve made friends with the industry’s best. In fact, the raddest brands in the biz are snubbing the status quo to team up with us. (They mentioned something about Specialized and Trek pushing them out of bike shops…) We’re stocking more than 6,000 products from 130 high-end bike-specific brands. We have components from Shimano, Race Face, Truvativ, Avid, Easton, and Gravity; apparel and accessories from Fox Racing, Troy Lee Designs, POC, Sombrio, Dakine, Endura, and Zoic; and complete bikes from Santa Cruz, Intense, Titus, Look and Rocky Mountain. (We’re the only authorized online dealer of Rocky Mountain in the U.S.)

HucknRoll.com is staffed by mountain bike gear freaks (including that dude who rambles on about the frame geometry of the 1993 Fat Chance Yo Eddy every time he laces a wheel). Only USA Cycling race-certified bike mechanics will touch your bikes, and only fully trained customer service gearheads will take your calls and answer your live chats. Our goal is to provide, hands down, the best customer lovin’ in the industry.

HucknRoll is community-powered, with gear reviews, Q&A, and images all submitted by you and other riders on the site. That means you get the god’s honest truth on the goods, whether the guys that make the bikes like it or not.

We mentioned our friends. As more proof that we have some, log on to HuckNroll.com/sweepstakes to check out the vid of pros and bros who at least humored us enough to say our name on camera. If you can ID all 15 in order, you’ll get the chance to win $2.9k-worth of gear, including an Intense Tracer VP frame, a Giro helmet and gloves, and an ass-load of Cutter swag.

HuckNroll.com is another store from Backcountry.com, who pretty much realized that skiers and climbers don’t know jack shit about mountain biking. Probably against their better judgment, they gave us some room to do what we do, the way we want to do it. We are proudly related to Chainlove.com, as well as the two shave-your-legs-to-your-scrawny-buttocks roadie sites: RealCyclist.com and Bonktown.com.

So here we go, y’all. It’s a whole new day in the bike world. We don’t give a rat’s ass if you love us or hate us, but we’re here and we’re open for business.

About Backcountry.com:
HuckNroll.com is owned by Backcountry.com—an online retailer of high-end outdoor gear and center for gear knowledge online. Backcountry.com carries more than 400 brands in various categories, including backpacking, camping, cycling, hiking, climbing, trail running, paddling, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and adventure travel. Backcountry also operates RealCyclist.com, Bonktown.com, Chainlove.com, SteepandCheap.com, Dogfunk.com, Tramdock.com, Brociety.com and WhiskeyMilitia.com. Backcountry.com is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group (Nasdaq: LINTA).

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Opening Video For Montrail Presentation

2009-05-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

lot's of hours put into this.. i hope you enjoy it.

Video For Montrail Presentation - Seattle 2009

2009-05-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting here on a sunny sunday putting together video for my montrail presentation with sean meissner. the presentation is wed may 13th at the mountain hardwear store in seattle. here are some of the good video clips i've dug up over the last three or so years of my life in the ultra scene. i'll be sure to publish the whole thing at some point, but i thought i'd share the good clips.

i am overwhelmed with video and reformatting it to be able to edit it. ugh.
this is the last one i'll post.

in august 2008 i joined karl meltzer during his appalachian assault. he made a valiant effort to break the 47 day appalachian trail record (2,174 miles). i joined him from the start on mount katahdin through maine and into new hampshire, where we are both from. the maine section is considered the roughest section of the appalachian trail. we also had the misfortune of having monsoon weather, which caused higher rivers than anyone had seen in 40+ years. at least it made for good video!

Montrail Presentation

2009-05-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

MARK THE CALENDARS FOR THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!
May 13, 2009 6pm at the Mountain Hardwear Store Seattle

so far i've given two presentations on ultrarunning for montrail at their mountain hardwear stores. it's always good fun to show some pics and video and geek out talking about running.

this time around it will be even better.. because sean meissner and i are doing it together! here is the montrail press (.pdf w/more info on it).

for me this is simply about putting my passion on display in hopes you will catch the bug. my goal is to simply inspire you to run trail... period.

Montrail Shoe In - Win Some Shoes!

2009-05-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Every day in May, Montrail will award a free pair of shoes to a Facebook fan, as part of our Montrail Daily Shoe-In promotion. What does that mean for you? Well, become a fan of Montrail on Facebook, and your name will be in the hat. If you win, you can choose from all our styles, any color. Find Montrail on Facebook, click on the "Become a Fan" link, and you're automatically entered. The sooner you sign up, the more chances you have to win. Good luck!

13 Hours of Enchantment

2009-04-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

there are a lot of places in washington i have yet to explore. when i got the email from mark for a massive day in the enchantments my heart raced. anyone who has been just gushes about how amazing of a place it is. i wasn't sure i could make it happen. my hip was sore after getting an injection for an mri and my foot was in a bad place. however after agreeing on email the train was unstoppable. the friday 2:15am departure came so fast i didn't have time to bail.

"Like paths in a fairy tale, the two trails to the Enchantments lead to beauty and magic, but the ways are challenging and can be dangerous."

the skin approach to the enchantment lakes was spars as you can see in the video. we climbed to colchuck lake and up aasgard pass. dragontail peak was an impressive and amazing site and my enchantment began there. had the group had a bit more energy we would have skiied the mighty dragontail - next time. from the pass we skinned out to the lakes fully expecting to see a heard of unicorns or a leprican. it's just that type of place. we then retraced our route back to the car for a 13hr 24mins endevour. it was an amazing 16 miles and 5,879ft on skis. thanks mark and todd for the good times!

mark these words - i will return to run the enchantments.. many many times (here are someone's photos of doing just that).

meet the backcountry.com pro team

A Failed Attempt to Ski Mount Rainier

2009-04-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

all last week i kept my eye on the weather forecast for mount rainier. we had planned to summit and ski the mighty beast in one shot. car to summit and back on skis. 5,400 feet to 10,410 feet. years ago i summited in a 17hr non stop push to the summit and back sans skis with my adventure racing teammates on DART-nuun.

we left the car at 11:30pm. 4hrs of skinning in the dark while weathering 60 mph winds with likely 80mph gusts was tough. it was by far the hardest trip i've ever had to camp muir, which had become a simple and mundane trip to me at this point. turn the lights out and the fan on high and things get interesting. of the 10-15 teams on the mountain only one attempted to climb past camp muir. they made it to 12,000ft and returned. the weather was insane, they were smart to turn around.