2015 was the first year that I was one of the 100 runners invited to run Badwater 135, “the world’s toughest foot race,” and ventured out to Death Valley in June to prepare and acclimate, and back again in July, to race. I was too nervous to fully appreciate the experience, although the imprint it made on my life, from…
Tag: grit
Badwater Salton Sea – Against the Wind
The Badwater Salton Sea Story All great ideas have a history: for Chief Adventure Officer and Race Director Chris Kostman, the concept of challenging runners for 81 miles over a blend of road and trail in California, on a course with elevation reminiscent of Badwater 135, made sense. For this adventure, the starting point would be the abandoned Salton Sea…
Finance & Fitness: The Key to a Wholehearted Life
Many of us possess our own ideas on what it takes to achieve a wholehearted life. The term wholehearted is defined as showing complete sincerity and commitment, and its synonyms consist of adjectives such as positive, devoted, dedicated, and enthusiastic. In a time when society is often rushed, in debt, overweight, and disillusioned, who doesn’t want to attain a wholehearted…
Hardwork, Hustle, and Grit
In life, we tend to see the finished product—a book, a presentation, a company that is successful, a car driving along on the road, runners crossing the finish line of a race. Unless it is your book, company, creation, or race, one rarely glimpses the effort or intensity of an endeavor. As a society, we are not privy to the…
The Movement Miracle
(originally appeared in Huffington Post) In my early twenties, while working in publishing and pursuing my first graduate degree, I discovered running. At first, two miles was as far as I ventured. I ran the twenty blocks from my apartment on Manhattan’s upper east side up to 90th street and 3rd avenue and back. I loved the feeling of passing…
Temporary Solutions: meditations from a 100-mile journey
(originally appeared in Huffington Post) A day after landing in Florida upon completing Badwater 135 this past July, my cat and I boarded a plane to start our next chapter in Washington, D.C. A day after that, I started my new job and I haven’t had a minute to look back. Everything has been new, different, and nonstop without much…
Keys 100 – 2017: The Way Back
Looking Back For the past few decades, Key West has signified a starting point and an ending point in my life. So much of my history is wrapped up in the Keys. My first venture to Key West was about Ernest Hemingway, whose writings and life I devoted almost a decade of graduate school to exploring. There was the Key…
You Have to Want It: The Power of Commitment, Planning, & Adaptation
Last weekend I was reminded of something that I already knew: when you set out to accomplish a new and/or challenging feat, you have to really want to achieve it in order for it to become a reality. Beyond that, you need to have a plan and be committed to execute the plan, while cultivating open-mindedness so that you may…
Running Around the Clock: Halloween Javelina Jundred Style
If you’re an ultrarunner or aspire to be one, Halloween likely evokes thoughts of the Javelina Jundred (JJ100) out in the Sonoran Desert, in Fountain Hills, Arizona, where for the last 14 years the best costumed trail-run party in the nation has occurred. Howling coyotes, baby tarantulas, and rattlesnakes come out for the celebration, but mostly, it is the 600+…
Everyday is a Good Day
At 85 years old, my father reads the Wall Street Journal cover-to-cover daily, sometimes devoting hours a day to perusing through it. He cuts out articles for me weekly: editorials on sports, education, books he supposes I will want to read; commentaries on entrepreneurs, and companies that I have worked with, or for. To me, the articles signify his interest…