The Vermont 100 is less than two weeks away!

Race Race Countdown

So I am 11 days out from the Vermont 100 mile Endurance Run, my first 100 mile race, which will be my longest race by a factor of 2.  I have been training diligently since I signed up for the race in January, running 6 days a week and working out at the gym two days a week as well.  I have run a couple of races during this training block including the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile race in Washington DC and most recently the Goat Butt 50K race in Mendham, NJ two weekends ago.  At  both races I felt strong and could feel a difference in my level of fitness in comparison to races at the distance in the past.  All signs pointing to the fact that the training has been working and that physically at least I am about as ready as I can be.

Coming in strong at the North Face DC 50 miler 

Just a point of clarification, I must say that my ability to train for this race has been build on the back of three years of training and racing marathons, half marathons and ultramarathons.  Each year I have noticed fitness gains, how running a certain distance in training or in a race has gotten easier from one year to the next.  My understanding is that this is how it works and this is why it's important to work your way up in distance slowly so that your body has a chance to adapt to the level of training and racing you are asking it to do.

So like I said, I have trained my body and to a certain degree my mind.  Part of running 6 days a week, when it's cold, raining, hot, when I don't feel like running, when I don't have time, getting up really early to run so I don't miss my daughter's soccer game, running a the beach, in the mountains, on the roads behind my parent's house, is that I am also training my mind to run just as a matter of fact.  No matter what my mind is doing, my legs are moving, some days faster than others and some days with more enthusiasm than others but I do the work whether I feel like it or not.  (I gotta say this discipline has spilled over into other areas of my life ie painting and working, pretty much everywhere for that matter.)  This I am hoping is going to translate to me being able both physically and mentally to keep moving all day on July 18th until I have travelled a total of 100 miles.  I am sure there are times when I am going to feel good and it is going to feel easy, but there are also going to be times when everything hurts and I can't figure out why I ever chose to do this in the first place.  At these times I am going to have to dig deep and remember why I signed up for this race, why I have been obsessed with the idea of running a 100 mile race pretty much since I heard that it was a thing that people are doing.  

Scene from the Vermont 100 course

Why is that?  To see if I am one of those people that can do it.  I am a really stubborn person and when I decide I am going to do something I usually follow through and make it happen, but this, this is a big thing and there are a lot of things that could go wrong and stop me, but from what I hear the biggest one is your mind.  This is what fascinates me about this challenge.  Once you train for the race and your body is about as ready as it can be the rest hinges on your mental game.  At some point in the race my body is going to be done and it is going to be telling my mind it is time to stop and I am going to have to ignore these signals and keep pressing forward.

You can do so much more than you think and part of how you do this is by ignoring that internal governor that is trying to keep you safe, comfortable and secure.  Let's be clear I am not going to run until I collapse or pass out, but there is a zone past what's comfortable and before your body shuts down that I will probably end up in at some point.  I would like to think that I am going to jog through the whole thing and never have to go there, but deep down inside I know it's going to happen.  Actually it happens in just about every ultramarathon I have ever done, to me it's what defines the experience of running an ultramarathon.





So for the next two weeks I will be running the remainder of my training runs, painting, hanging out with my kids and obsessively preparing for the trip up the Vermont, making lists of gear, food, clothing, etc and fantasizing about what it's going to be like, emailing my friends who are doing this crazy race with me and coordinating with my crew and pacers.

Special thanks to Kat Bermudez my crew chief or "stage mother" which she has named herself, Knox Robinson fellow crew member and potential pacer, Maria Campos pacer, and a special shout out to Chipp Winston, Ayako Yamazaki, Helen Clark and Stephen Bandfield my fellow Trail Whippass' who are also running this crazy race with me in a couple weeks.

Fellow Trail Whippass' after the Goat Butt 50K

The Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run ("Vermont 100") is a 100 mile (162 km) long ultramarathon held annually in July at Silver Hill Meadow in West Windsor, Vermont. It is one of the four 100 mile races that comprise the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning. It is also one of the few ultra races in the USA where entrants run alongside horses over a similar course, in a separate but simultaneous race. (Horses avoid some of the more treacherous single-track and technical trails.) The race has been held every year since 1989.

Another beautiful scene from the Vermont 100 course

Trail Whippass Interview

Hey guys.

Sorry for the long absence training for the Vermont 100, building a public sculpture in Pittsburgh and now working in the studio in NYC has kept me very busy.  But I promise to deliver some new content soon.

For now, I'd like to share with you an interview of me done by the lovely Sally Hur of my running team the Trail Whippass.

Meet a Trail WhippAss: May Edition!!

Happy spring, trail folks and friends! Sorry for slacking, but things got a little hectic in March and April and I just realized it’s May and I haven’t posted a Meet A Trail Whippass in a while! 

This month’s featured TWA member is quite possibly the nicest guy I’ve had the pleasure sharing trails. I met Rudy at last year’s NJ Trails’ Ultrafest while he sported the classic ultrarunner full beard.

Rudy is pictured here on the left sporting the "Is he an ultra runner or is he homeless" beard. On the right is none other than Jedi Master and TWA Officer, Jürgen.

Since then, Rudy has chosen the clean shaven route and as his badassery has quadrupled! I’m not sure if there is any scientific evidence backing this up, but I think it has to do with the fact that he’s always sporting a TWA attire and representing the best trailrunning group in the country!

 

If this picture looks familiar to you it's because it was made famous by The NorthFace EDC Bear Mountain emails!

Sit back, grab a cup of java or tea and get to know Rudy Shepherd!

Do you have any mantras you repeat in your mind during tough moments?  How do you dig yourself out of low points out on the trail?

When I was training for my first marathon and run longer and longer and really struggling I kept telling myself "I am strong, getting stronger."  I guess I may need to go back to that as I prepare for my first hundred miler.

My current race mantra is a Dean Karnazes quote "Run if you can, walk if you must, crawl if you have to."

Is this where he told you that, Rudy?? This is Rudy after TNF DC where he crushed the 50 miler!

When I'm really struggling and just want to give up, which I never really consider as an option, I just tell myself the faster I move the sooner the damn thing will be over. 

If you found out that the world was going to end in 24 hours, what would you spend the next 24 hours doing?

Yikes!  Probably hang out with my family, my kids, my wife, my parents if I could.  As I am getting older I am realizing they are the most important thing. 

If you could hop in a time machine and talk to 10 year old Rudy for 30 seconds, what would you tell him knowing what you know now?

Just work hard and have faith in yourself and it is all going to work out, I am in a weird position right now of feeling like it has all worked out and that I am finally the person I've always wanted to be.

If you could hop in a time machine and talk to Rudy 50 years from now for 30 seconds, what would you ask him?  Also 50 years from now where do you see yourself?

Boy in 50 years I'll be 90 and hopefully happy to still be alive.  What would I ask my 90 year old self?  What do you regret not doing more of?  
At age 90 I see myself finally living in the country somewhere with a pet pig, playing the banjo like a pro, gardening maybe and hanging out with my grandkids and taking walks in the woods everyday.

What are some of your bucket list races or goals?  in running?

This summer I am running Vermont 100, next summer I would love to run Western States or another west coast mountain ultra race, the following summer UTMB!
Badwater has me curious along with Marathon de Sable, though the heat frightens me.  I'd also love to do the Mt. Fuji 100 some day. 

What is your proudest moment so far in life running related?

Ultra related, running a 10:05 at the Tussey Mountainback 50 miler this fall, though I would love to go back there and break 10 hrs.
Pre-ultra, winning races in high school running the 110 high hurdles, 300 meter hurdles and the 4x400 relay.  I had a blast running track in high school and really miss it sometimes. 

Even The Clash knew that Rudy can't fail. They just spelled his name wrong.

What is your proudest moment non-running related so far in your life?

Hmm, probably finally putting up a public sculpture in New York City, on the corner of Houston and 2nd Avenue or having my first solo exhibition at a gallery in New York City or seeing my artwork in the New York Times for the first time.

What were you like as a kid? 

I was wild, I used to love leaving my parents house in the morning on my bike and running all though the neighborhood and the woods with my friends until the sun went down and then I had to go home reluctantly for dinner.  I also used to like to get lost, I would just walk or bike in one direction until I didn't know where I was anymore and then try to find my way home.  I probably scared the hell out of my folks.  But not to dissimilar to what we do now as ultrarunners, right? 

 

 This little angels was wild??

What are some life experiences that helped shape you into the ultra runner and person you are today?

After three years as a pre-Med student at Wake Forest University I decided to become an artist and have spent the last 20 years pursuing that goal, from studying art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to moving to New York City to pursue my dream.  It has been a long challenging, sometimes discouraging journey, but with the faith in myself and a dream in my heart I have succeeded in becoming the professional artist I have always wanted to be and teaching now at a major university.  The vision, persistence, tenacity and lunacy it took to do this is something I can see in the people that inspire me in the ultrarunning community.  I mean the audacity it takes to think you can run 100 miles in one day is somewhat ludicrous if you think about it, yet people are doing it every weekend this time of year.

What music are you listening to right now?

I bought myself a banjo for my 40th birthday, and so I have been listening to alot of bluegrass, but then I will mixed this with some ridiculous rap like Drake's new album or black metal like Deafheaven, I'm all over the place.

What is your funniest or craziest animal encounter on the trail?

Wild turkey on the Long Path, Its a narrow single track and the turkey was with like 8 of it's chicks, I was a little scared, but luckily the chicks ran into the brush and the turkey did too eventually.  Another time, the turkey was in front of me and I was running toward it and it just kept running a couple of feet and stopping and running a couple of feet and stopping and not realizing that I was coming it's way, this went on for a while and I was not sure how it would end. 

Rudy and the wild turkey on the Long Path ;)

Whats the most embarrassing wipe out you have ever had on the trail?

I haven't had any particularly amusing wipe outs, but I did once crap my pants on a long run in Yonkers (damn roads).  I learned that day that there is a limit to how long you can hold in a crap.

What does a typical training week look like for you?  Do you follow a strict plan or are you more loose with your training?

I have no idea what I'm doing, so I like to follow premade training plans.  For the North Face DC 50 miler I used the training plan in the back of Hal Koerner's book (Hal Koerner's Field Guide to Ultrarunning), and I am now to train for the Vermont 100 I am going to use the 100 mile training plan in that same book.  I felt really strong at this last race so it gives me faith that Hal knows what he's doing.  The plans average around 60-70 miles a week which seems to work well for me, any more than that and I would probably get injured or piss off my wife.

What is the last book you read, and tell me about it in 2-3 sentences?

The last book I read was Gene Baur's Farm Sanctuary a book about the deplorable state of farm system here in the US and the courage work he and his organization has done to combat this over the last 30 years.  It was a very inspiring and informative book that really made me want to figure out what I can do to help other people, the planet and the animals we share it with.  

What is the best advice you have ever been given and who gave it to you?

Fred Tomaselli, a famous artist I worked with at art residency in 2000 said to me once "You can have it all."  He is a famous artist with a happy marriage, kids and a life, he did not have to sacrifice it all to make it to his goal and as a result has a happy full life where he can do what he loves and be successful.

If somebody were to make a movie or write a book about your life, what would it be called and why?

Well it can't be called Rudy because there is already a movie with that name (which I refused to see on principle).

                           What is the Trail WhippAss logo to you?

The Trail Whippass logo is the wild beast that lives inside of us and leads us to want to get out in the woods and explore for days on end.

This cute guy?

What do you do for a living?  

I am an artist and an art professor at Penn State University.

Do you speak any other languages?

A little Spanish and a little Italian and a hybrid of the two that is not an official language.

What age did you start running?

I started running when I was a sophomore in high school, so maybe 15. 

Why did you start running?

The track coach saw me running lines in basketball practice and recruited me to be on the track team. 

Why and when did you start running trails?

After running my first marathon in 2012 I started reading about ultramarathons and was both excited and fearful of the idea, but a few months later I was signing up for my first trail ultramarathon (Mountain Madness 50K) and figuring out where I could find trails near my house.

Here's Rudy after he crushed the NJ Trails' Mountain Madness 50K!

Do you have a running idol? If so, who is he/she and why are they your idol?

Timmy Oleson is my current running idol I just love the energy that he exudes.  I can definitely relate to the things he has been through in his life, from his troubled youth to a flourishing grounded adulthood. 

Where is the best place that you've run? or where was the most interesting place you've ever run?

Hmm, I have yet to run out west on the real mountains, but I am headed to Gressoney Saint-Jean, Italy about 2 hours from Chamonix, France this summer for a wedding and I am very excited to run in the Italian Alps. 

So, I've run in Smoky Mountain National Park that was pretty cool, Bear Mountain, NY is pretty rad and last year I did the Vegan Power Ultramarathon in the Berkshires and that was beautiful as well.

What's the most you've paid for a race?

$250 for the Vermont 100, totally worth it.  For that kind of torture you gotta pay a lot of money, right? 

Have you heard how much Dylan paid to run the NYC Marathon? Trust me $250 for a 100 miler is a bargain compared to that!

What is your favorite pre-race meal?

Pre-race it's a bagel with nothing on it, preferably cinnamon raisin, a banana and a cup of coffee. 

What's your favorite food choice during ultras?

The red potatoes you dip in the salt bowl, if a race has that I am in heaven. (I'm a cheap date.)

What's your favorite post race meal?

If there is a sweet potato involved I am happy. 

What can you not run without?

My new nutrition revelation is Tailwind Nutrition I highly recommend it to everybody, for the long races and even just for long runs it is the best. 

If anyone in the world could congratulate you at the end of a race who would it be and why?

My kids, when I crossed the finish line at Bear Mountain with my kids for my first 50 miler it was the best feeling ever.  It was so awesome to share that with them.

 

 

North Face Endurance Challenge Washington DC Race Report

So it was another big weekend for me running the North Face DC 50 miler at Algonkn State Park and Great Falls Park in Virginia.  A lush beautiful course in full bloom and toasty hot on this particular day.

Once again this adventure started with a very early wake up time of 2:15am.  I have always thought of 2am as more night than morning previous to this day.  But I actually didn't feel too tired when I got up, adrenaline and coffee probably had something to do with that.  I started the day with my usual pre-race fare: a bagel, a banana and a cup of coffee.

Even though the race was in Virginia a bunch of my Trail Whippass teammates were there which was really fun.  We hung out at the race start at 4am, drinking coffee next to bonfire's and catching up on life.  The gun went off at 5am sharp and the race was on.  There were about 240 runners, and at the start we were all running together at a decent pace bombing through the wooded trails in the dark, with nothing but our headlamps to light the way.  We actually ran in the dark for more than an hour which I am not used to, I guess it was because it is still early in the year.

I started out running a comfortable 9:30 pace, chatting with a guy I met at the Naked Bavarian 40 miler a couple weeks ago and one of his friends from Philly.   We stuck together for about 7 miles until I had to take an extended pit stop, I would not catch up to them again that day.  I kept a steady pace feeling strong on the uphills and the downhills all morning long, running through the mostly flat Algonquin State Park  section about 15 miles very comfortably with plenty of fuel in the tank.

 

In Great Falls Park we ran a very convoluted 7 mile loop three times, this is where most of the hills and rocks were.  I felt strong the whole time, but definitely did my fair share of walking on the uphills to make sure I had enough in my legs to get through the day.

After running my first loop in Great Falls I noticed the 50K runners had joined us on the trails, which was actually a refreshing change of pace.  I got to see Sally and talk to Elaine about the Vermont 100 and how I should train for it and what it's like to run through the night.  I probably wore her out grilling her with my questions.  It was actually a perfect distraction though and the miles just rolled on almost without me noticing.

One of the best aid station accommodations I saw all day was three buckets full of ice water and sponges.  Bless your hearts DC Striders for coming up with this one, I hit this one up on my first loop and couldn't wait to get to it again on my second and third loops as the temperature rose into the 80's, I think it got up to 85 degrees that day.

After three challenging loops in Great Falls Park it was time to hit the dusty trail home for the last 14 or so miles back to the finish line.  My A goal for the day was to break 10 hours (I ran a 10:05 at the Tussey Mountainback 50 miler in October ) thinking this course was supposed to be easier, the truth is it's really hard to compare one race to another, with elevation, temperature, trail conditions, there are just too many variables to consider.  But anyway I headed out of Great Falls after about 7 hours and 30 minutes thinking maybe it was possible and even if it wasn't trying would get me to run it fast.

I hit the final stretch feeling strong running, not fast, but strong and passing many people who seemed to be wilting in the heat.  After passing each person I felt stronger and stronger and more confident in what I was doing.  Though I couldn't seem to shake the negative chatter in my head telling me I couldn't keep this pace up, that I was never going to finish, that I should just give up and walk.  It was very clear that the challenge was coming from my head more than the course.  But the first 6 miles I ran strong thinking I had only a couple miles left to go.  GPS watches are never reliable and I know this, but I was super discouraged when an aid station volunteer told me I had "only" 6.5 miles left to go when I thought I had maybe 4 at the most.

I would like to tell you I didn't let this bother me and I kept running, but that's not quite what happened.  Basically I ate some oranges (never a good idea, when will I learn!) my stomach started bothering me and then I said to myself "I'm not going to make it in less than 10 hours so I should just walk."  So I walked a bit, got passed by a few people, moaned, groaned, ran some more and walked some more.  Then realized that when I walked I felt really tired and discouraged and even though I was tired I felt better when I ran and so I'm better off running.

Bringing it home

So I ran in the last 3 miles of the race and seemed to feel stronger and stronger the closer I got to the finish line.  I gotta say it felt really good to finish my third 50 mile race feeling strong, if tired, and having weathered the mental highs and lows that the day brought.  My official time was 10:49:20, good for 8th place in my new age group, the 40-44 crowd.

It was a big confidence builder.  As I think about running twice this much in July at the Vermont 100 I know it's going to be hard but I feel more confident that I can do it.

Done!

After the race I hung out at the post race party talking to friends, people I ran with all day, and I even got to see Dean Karnazes again, and he actually remembered meeting me though he wasn't sure where.  One of the best things about ultramarathon races is the comradory, and I got a big dose of that after the race talking to guys I battle with all day and congratulating them for a job well done.  It was also a special race because this the area I grew up in, and I got to share the experience with my parents, my biggest fans.

Me and Pops after the race

 

One of the guys I ran with all day.

 

Hanging with Ultramarathon Man himself Dean Karnazes

Naked Bavarian 40 miler race report

So this weekend I ran my first race of the year, the Naked Bavarian 40 miler at Blue Marsh Lake outside of Reading, PA.  A beautiful trail system hidden away behind what looked like mostly farmland and suburban homes.

The first 10 miles were amazing!  Its been such a long cold winter with so much snow and ice that I haven't been able to run on the trails regularly since October, so it was really nice to be spending the day out in the woods, in the sun, even if it was a little cold. 

This was a very low key race, no t-shirts, medals, announcers, inflatable start/finish lines, hence the "naked" name and the price which was strip down as well.  I can appreciate that, though I actually love race t-shirts and would have bought one if it were offered.  Who wouldn't want to buy a Naked Bavarian race shirt?

 Because of all the snow and ice this winter the race actually had to be postponed from March 8, the day after my 40th birthday, which is why I signed up for the race, to March 29th, which significantly cut down on runners for the new date.  I think there were about 50 people that started the race so it ended up being a small intimate group of nutjob dirtbag ultrarunners, of which I enthusiastically count myself one.  Trail Whippass, the trail ultramarathon team that I am a part of, had a decent showing and I met a couple of people that I follow on Instagram as well.  Like Laura Kline (fellow vegan) who finished first female in the marathon distance race.  It's funny how trail ultrarunners have taken to Instagram, it is where I have met pretty much everyone I know in the community.  Between that and the Trail Whippass Facebook page I have gotten to know a bunch of runners interested in running these crazy ultramarathon races.

I have been training diligently for the last 3 months pretty much doing all of my runs solo and it was really nice to share the trails with friends and meet new like minded people.  This race was just the motivational boost I needed.  Thought I spent more time than I would have liked to thinking about when the race was going to be over, I was able to get into the moment and really enjoy the experience of being out in the woods doing what I love.  Most people think of ultras as being really physically difficult, but I have found that the real challenge is more mental than anything else.  If you train regularly you can get your body strong and ready to run 40 miles, but on race day it is your mental attitude that will determine whether you finish the race, suffer through it or give up half way through.  I think doing all those long runs this winter in less than ideal conditions is good for me physically, but more importantly it teaches me to keep running even when it's not fun and all I want is to be home warm and safe on my couch with a plate of food in front of me.

So this race consisted of two 20 mile loops with about 5000 feet of total elevation gain over the 41.5 mile adventure.  My goal going into the race was to run something around 8 hours total, thinking it was a perfect 40 mile race (they never are) I was hoping to run an average of 5 mph or 12 min/mile, a nice even pace.  I really wanted to try and run an even race instead of going out fast on the first loop and crawling home destroyed on the second loop.  I finished the race in 8:14:27 good for 28th place out of 47 finishers and I felt good all the way through and decent afterwards, so for me it was mission accomplished.  My big goal for the year is the Vermont 100 in July and so this race was a good test run of my nutrition plan, equipment and pacing.  Boy at some of the later points in the race the thought of running 100 miles just seemed absurd and impossible, but as I recover this week my foolish bravado that I can do this is coming back.

Next up is the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler in Washington D.C. in three weeks!

This is 40! Redefining Middle Age

So I turned 40 the other day, a big milestone in my life.  Definitely a time of reflection, I can't help look at my life and ask the question, am I where I want to be at 40?  For the most part my answer to the question is an emphatic Hell Yes!  I feel healthier than ever in my life, with my diet dialed in, regular exercise, rest, my art career is pumping along and I love my day job, which is teaching sculpture to college kids.  I feel most of the time, really really good.  I'm not suffering from any health issues, depression or anything like that.  This is not to say things are perfect, actually the biggest progress I've made in the last 20 years is realizing life is never going to be perfect, I'm never going to be perfect and I am never going to do anything perfectly.  What matters, I think, is the spirit with which you do things, that is what people respond to, the spirit of the thing.  Whether it is my art, my running, my efforts at being a good father, husband, teacher, it is the spirit with which I go about these tasks that people respond to and remember.

So earlier this year I was out on a long run and had a thought jump into my head, I want to learn to play the banjo.  I am a big fan of bluegrass music, since my college days in North Carolina, and I just love the driving rhythmic sound that the banjo adds. I've played the guitar on and off (mainly off) since I was 12 years old and so far it really feels like I am building off of this base really nicely.  So I have been playing the banjo now for 3 weeks and I am having a blast.  I don't know what it is about the banjo, but I have gotten so many invitations to play with other people since I posted on my facebook that I am learning the banjo, this never happened with the guitar.  Last week (two weeks into the banjo experiment) I got together with a friend who plays the mandolin and jammed for a couple hours at his house, it was a freakin' blast and I left there totally on fire.  The collaborative energy was flowing and just so inspiring.  I am really glad I did not listen to that little voice in my head telling my not to play with other people after only playing for two weeks.  I am really glad I pushed that ego based voice aside and went into the experience looking to have fun and not so worried about how it made me look.

On my birthday, I woke up early and ran 25 miles (40 km), then I brought my kids to Volta, an art fair where I was having a solo exhibition with Mixed Greens Gallery, and also I had a t-shirt for sale with Imperfect Articles, a company that collaborates with artist to make creative apparel.

 

That evening I had a vegan potluck.  My friends, some vegetarian, none vegan, were good sports and brought some really delicious food for us to share and my wife made a couple of really amazing dishes and a vegan banana cream pie.  Kind of going back to my last post questioning what would be the most affective/least obnoxious vegan advocacy  I gotta say my vegan potluck birthday party seemed to be a pretty great solution.  I mean what better way to demystify the whole vegan food experience than to ask people to make or find a vegan dish to bring to the party and then have them eat what all the delicious food they brought. 

One of the funniest birthday presents I received was a whole package of "birthday cake" Oreos with the filling removed.  I had a conversation with my friend Julie about how I like Oreos, but hate the filling, and she said she likes the filling but hates the cookies.  I was confused when she gave me a packet of Oreos as a birthday present, but died laughing the next day when my daughter opened the package and was completely confused.

The best Oreo I've ever had

You can have results or excuses, not both.

Getting it done in the Palisades

This time of year it feels like the big challenge is to keep up the training even though my big race is 5 months away and the weather is miserably cold and doesn’t seem to want to relent.

To stay motivated and be consistent in my training I am having to use things I have learned in other areas of my life.

Take it one day at a time/one week at a time/one work out at a time/one mile at a time when necessary.

When I look at what I have to do for the whole week sometimes it can be overwhelming, especially if I am tired, but if I just look at what I have to do today I can usually handle it much better.

What's exciting and terrifying about training for longer and longer races each year is looking months ahead to training weeks that just look impossible and then getting to that point months later and pulling it off without too much trouble.  But I find it best not to spend too much time looking ahead and really just taking it week by week, really what I do is look at the week day runs on Monday and then start considering the weekend maybe Thursday or Friday.

Rain, snow, ice, no problem

Attraction is much more effective than promotion.

I am vegan for health reason as well as ethical reasons and I see why everyone in the world should be vegan today, how they would all lose weight, have more energy, be happier and be working with me to improve the outlook for our planet, but pretty much no one wants to hear my ranting.

I was not convinced to go vegan because someone came up to me and told me why it was best for me.  I came to that realization on my own in my own time.  I stumbled onto the information while looking for inspiration with my running and maybe that is the only way it would have happened.

Plenty of people have put the information out there and it has been packaged in a way that could be appealing to lots of different types of people.  I imagine what I am doing here is just that, repackaging the information to people like myself.

Ran into teammate Dylan Armajani out in the Palisades

For some reason, a couple of weeks ago, I went through this major crisis of conscious where I thought maybe I wasn’t doing enough as an ethical vegan to live up to my principles.  I was really stuck on this idea that I should be doing more to convert the people in my life and convince them that they should all go vegan right now.

Guess what happened?  Surprise, surprise it didn’t work and all I succeeded in doing was pissing off my wife, and frustrating myself, and feeling helpless.  It was a big crash and one I would like to avoid in the future.

Luckily, I have a great friend who is vegetarian and has known me for a long time, long before I started my vegan journey.  We were able to sit down and talk through the thoughts I was having and really dig in deep on what was bothering me.  It is so helpful to have at least one person in my life who I can run my "radical" ideas by and check them with someone who feels the same way, but maybe does not feel the same kind of moral imperative to act.

Basically the point we came to was that the best form of vegan activism at this point is for me to be a power of example for the people in my life.  Whether that’s sharing my delicious vegan food with them, talking about how great I feel and what I am able to do on a vegan diet, like run 50 miles in 10 hours, and soon 100 miles in 1 day. 

I had two experiences that really convinced me that this is a very effective strategy.  The first was a moment in class the other day when I sat down to eat my lunch and my whole class was in awe of how beautiful and delicious it looked and began asking me about my eating habits, asking me if I’m vegetarian (no vegan), and then one of my students started talking about her experience going raw and what she knew about why that was a good idea.  There I was talking to my whole class about veganism, without even trying, and in a very natural, nonthreatening, nonpreachy way.

Lunch!

The other was at my friends Super Bowl party, which I mentioned in my last post.  I made a big pot of Scott Jurkek’s winter vegan chili and folks loved it and began asking me about my experience as a vegan, what I eat, how I feel, etc.

So maybe the key is to let these conversations unfold naturally, and when given the opportunity using the food itself to show people what vegans eat and how delicious and healthy it can be.

Getting in some strength training in the gym this morning

Scott Jurek Minnesota Winter Chili Recipe (vegan of course)

In Scott Jurek's inspirational book Eat & Run there are many great recipes, this is one of my favorites, especially comforting when the temperature starts to fall.

As I think about going home for the weekend and what I am going to make for my family for dinner this is popping in my head.  The great thing about it is that this recipe makes a big pot that you can eat on all week, it's really healthy and there aren't too many crazy ingredients you have to hunt down at a specialty health food story.  This is actually what I brought to the Super Bowl party I went to last weekend and it was enjoyed by vegans (me) and non-vegans (everybody else) alike.

Scott Jurek's Minnesota Winter Chili 

Serves 8-10

2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup finely chopped onion
8–10 medium mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1 jalapeño pepper or other hot pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can tomato purée
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 15-ounce can red beans, drained
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dry bulgur wheat
Hot sauce or cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro, for garnish
Tofutti sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Add the oil to a large pot. Sauté the vegetables and spices in the oil over medium to medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until tender. Add a few tablespoons of water if the veggies begin sticking to the pot.
Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro and simmer over medium-low heat, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir and simmer for an additional 20 to 30 minutes until the veggies are cooked through.
Season with salt and, if more spice is desired, hot sauce or cayenne pepper to taste. Serve sprinked with the cilantro.

Tip: Leftover chili freezes well.
"Minnesota Winter Chili" from EAT & RUN: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek with Steve Friedman. Copyright © 2012 by Scott Jurek. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Nutrition

All figures are per serving (assumes eight servings without sour cream).
Calories: 399
Fat: 5 g
Carbs: 51 g
Fiber: 16 g
Protein: 14 g
Sodium: 1,324 mg