Why do I run?  Why do any of us run?  For those of us lucky enough to live at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais in Southern Marin, trail running  lets us explore its treasures:  Rocky, rutted, tree-lined paths that snake up and around Tam, criss-crossing Muir Woods, and even leading us to Stinson Beach.   A few years ago, I got caught up in the Dipsea hoopla, and the  2016 Dipsea was my third.   Recently, while adding to my stock of Goo, I ran into someone wearing a 1991 Dipsea race shirt, and we shared stories.   When I told him I was about to run my third, his simple question was “What took you so long?”   This journal/ blog is an incredibly meandering answer to that basic question.    Why did it take me so long to fall into this addiction?   What are the ups and downs of beating up a 58 year body on trails that are both breathtaking and at times unforgiving?

A year ago, my addiction led me to run the Double Dipsea for the first time, 14 miles of legal torture.  Afterwards I shared the picture below with some colleagues at work, and one of them said, “congrats, that’s great, but you should run the Bridger”.    The Bridger, what’s that?   The Bridger, it turns out, is a 20 mile ridge run near Bozeman, Montana, recognized as one of the hardest trail runs on the planet.  After looking at some pictures and videos, I was smitten, and have been aiming for that run  (August 13, 2016) ever since.   I made my first journal entry on January 14, as I began to train in earnest for my personal trifecta (Dipsea, Double Dipsea and Bridger).   This journal tracks these six months — the many ups and downs —  from Mill Valley to Bozeman.

The next question, of course, is why write about it?     I enjoy writing, and find that when I think about things from a writer’s perspective,  all my senses are on overdrive.   So this blog is a Reese’s peanut butter cup made up of two of my passions.

Okay, you say, but why should anyone else want to read this?  Fair question.    One that you’ll have to answer.  But if you are a fellow trail runner, or armchair sociologist, or have stumbled here by complete accident, I hope you enjoy it!  And help me figure out what’s next…