The 3:30am alarm fills the room, pulling me out of a dream and into the physical world. Somehow, my wife and newborn son are never woken up by this alarm. Just me – the signal that my day has begun.

I quietly get out of bed, open the bedroom door, and slip out into the hallway. I definitely don’t want to wake our 2 month old. I quickly put on my shorts, socks, and a shirt, and head downstairs to the kitchen. I pour a glass of water and quickly swallow it down. Then, I grab my headlamp and step out the front door, into the darkness. I sit on the front steps to put on my shoes. I take a moment to look up at the sky. I can see the moon, and Orion’s Belt.

I start my watch, and take off down the street.

The World of a Headlamp

This has been the norm for my weekday running, ever since Basil was born. My work hours are 6:30am – 3pm. When I get home from work, I want to be available to help Kerong with our son. She has to take care of him the whole time I’m at work; so, once I’m home, it’s my turn to be on Basil duty. This means my running is shifted to the pre-sunrise hours. I start and end my run in the dark.

The darkness brings an interesting element to the run. I used to be a bit nervous to run in these hours, but now I am accustomed to it and actually enjoy it. The world feels small in the orb of my headlamp. I can only see a few feet in front of me as I trot down the road. On the other hand, I know there is a world beyond the light of my headlamp, but my non-nocturnal eyes cannot see it. Instead, I perceive that outside world through the other senses- sounds, touch, smells, and tastes.

I can smell ocean water in the air and feel misty water droplets hit my face as I run down the block. I hear the sound of the rolling ocean tide in the distance. Occasionally, a rustle in the bushes makes my head turn. Its probably a bird scattering away, slightly nervous of my presence.

I look up and see in the short distance ahead, couple of small glowing eyes looking back at me, illuminated by my headlamp. My heart skips a beat, but then I quickly determine its size is small. Its a raccoon, probably foraging around the neighborhood looking for food waste. One creature’s junk is another creature’s treasure.

I wrap up my run, a little over 5 miles, about 43 minutes. My typical morning run these days. Time to shower up, check on Basil, eat breakfast, and head to work. It feels good to get a run in to start the day.

Santa Barbara Nine Trails

I recently ran the Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35 mile trail race. This was my first race since my unsupported FKT attempt of the Camino Cielo loop, a sweet route in the local mountains here in Santa Barbara. Nine Trails is a classic trail race in SB. Its been around since the 1990’s, and is a tough challenge – nearly 12,000 feet of vertical gain and loss on mostly rocky, technical trails.

I made the decision to run the race in late January. I was coming off a pretty low-level of running, ever since Basil’s birth. Plus, my glute/knee area was giving me some pain. I had about six weeks to train for the race, so I had to increase my weekly miles quite a bit to get ready.

Luckily, my glute/knee pain seemed to subside quickly and did not give me problems in the volume increase. I put in four weeks in a row with about 65 miles and usually 8,000 to 11,000 ft of vert. This is a decent level for me. Unfortunately, most of the miles were on the road, not the technical trails. Only on Saturdays was I able to get out on the trails for a long run.

Knowing my training was decent but not exactly my ideal, I made goals for the race that sounded challenging but realistic. I was hoping to go at least under 8 hrs, preferably under 7 hours 30 minutes.

One day before the race, I decided my strategy would be to try to keep pace with Charlotte Cox (a fast local SB runner) up to the halfway point turnaround. That way I could have some cushion in the second half of the race to fade back, but still hit my time goals.

Before the race start, the famous Luis Escobar and Nine Trails race director, gave a great speech. He had us take the oath:

“If I get hurt, lost, or die, its my own damn fault”

As the race started, I immediately found Charlotte and got behind her to keep her pace. I think we were in the top ten. I felt great running that pace. It felt fast, I knew I was taking a chance on not blowing up early.

Charlotte was in second place for the females. We were running just behind 1st female, Leah Yingling, a pro ultrarunner from Salt Lake City. We kept pace with her for several miles. On a fast downhill section, about 8 miles into the race, I drifted more towards Leah and away from Charlotte. In the middle of this downhill, there was an aid station. Leah stopped at it. I kept going. I thought there was another aid station at the bottom of the downhill, only about two more miles.

I was wrong. No aid station at the bottom. “Fuck, I think I just made a mistake.” The next aid would not be for another 4-5 miles. Thats enough time for me to run out of water. Leah caught up to me on the very next climb. I fell into her pace, letting her lead the way. I asked if she was indeed Leah Yingling. She responded in a friendly tone “Yes.”

We proceeded to have a nice conversation for what felt like several miles. We talked about our kids and balancing running with kids and work. We eventually hit a steep climb. Leah kept talking at a chill tone, but my breath became quicker and my heart pounded harder. Leah left me in the dust, climbing excellently up the trail. I saw her pass two more guys on that climb. I let her go, and Charlotte caught up to me eventually.

“Good, I should go back to her pace. Or I’m gonna blow up hard.”

I proceeded to run the rest of the way to the turnaround with Charlotte. That would be the last time I saw her. She got out of the aid station faster than me and took off looking great. I could feel the fatigue setting in.

The way back to the starting line would be a tough journey for me, physically and mentally. I fell back a few more places. Hannah Holmen, the third place female, caught me late in the race. I ended up finishing eleventh for the men and fourteenth overall. I hit my goal of sub-eight hours, finishing in 7 hours, 46 minutes.

Overall, I was happy with how the race went. I was able to push in the front half, mixing it up with the front of the race. The back half went off the rails a bit, but I was able to keep my headspace mostly positive. I also completed the race with no injuries or tendon flare-ups.

Staying injury-free will be key for my summer running goals. In an earlier blog, I mentioned that I would likely run two 100 miles races in 2026 – with no crew. The logic behind this was that I need to become more self-reliant in these multi-day challenges in order to effectively use a crew.

Summer Running Plans

Well after some time thinking, those two 100-mile races may get replaced with a single, 314 mile road race (500k) across the state of Tennessee. This is the Last Annual Vol State Road Race.

Vol State is a Laz Lake race…if you know who that is, you know the event is probably wild and challenging.

I learned about this race a few years back when I was living in Georgia, but did not give it much attention. At that point in my running, I was still just hoping to run the 50k distance. Running for multiple days was a far-away goal (my training has always been for the purpose to eventually get to the multi-day level).

The past couple months have given me an odd sleep schedule. Usually, at least once-per-night, I found myself sitting with Basil trying to get him back to sleep. While he slowly drifted off to sleep, I would, of course, go to the internet on my phone. As the internet goes, I somehow had a Vol State video come to my YouTube page. A gentle reminder of this crazy race in Tennessee. Down the rabbit hole I went.

Vol State started sometime in the early 2000s, the first few years had very few runners. The race is usually held in July, an incredibly hot and humid time of year for Tennessee. Runners could enter the race either “crewed” or “screwed”. There are no aid stations along the way. Instead, runners rely on the local convenience stores, gas stations, or supermarkets. The race follows roads going from town to town across the state. The finish line is at “the rock” at the top of Sand Mountain, just across the state line in Georgia.

Over the years, as locals found out about the race, “road angels” started to appear along the course. These are local folks who decided to set up their own “unofficial” aid stations. Some road angels have been doing this for years now. They are part of the community of the race. Learning about the organic community of this race is what drew my attention.

I read more and more about the race and eventually decided I needed to experience it myself. My 2026 running goals were still not solidified, so why not Vol State?

My wife and I have now planned our summer vacation around this race. My parents and extended family live in Georgia, so we will go stay with them for a couple weeks. My family can help Kerong take care of Basil for a few days while I’m out running day and night on the backroads of TN.

I finally pulled the trigger on putting my name on the waitlist for the race. These days, the race is quite popular, so there is a waitlist. Laz being Laz, does not make the waitlist public. It’s a mystery of who gets in. But, from what I’ve been told on the Facebook group, most everyone on the waitlist usually gets in. But you may not know until a week before the race.

I hope I get in. My back-up plan is to run Merrill’s Mile 48 hr race, a race in Georgia around the same time as Vol State. I’ve done it twice in the past – it is put on by the organization that does the Cruel Jewel races. Classic Georgia ultra running.

There will likely be some big training days in the coming months to prepare for Vol State. And I will certainly write about them.

Recent Music Selections:

Pink Floyd new Wish You Were Here 50th Anniversary box set. There were some cool alternate takes on the songs, and a full Live at Wembley 1974 concert. Full play-through of Dark Side. I listened to this on the blood moon lunar eclipse. Excellent soundtrack for the moment.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 12/5/2025 Sydney, Australia. Pretty sweet and energetic show.

Blaze Foley albums Duct Tape Messiah and Live at the Austin Outhouse. Very cool folk singer-songwriter find. Apparently he died of a gunshot wound. There’s a movie on him I need to watch.

Goose album Everything Must Go Remixed.

49 Winchester album Leavin’ this Holler.

Johnny Blue Skies new album Mutiny After Midnight. From his self-leaked YouTube release. I want to buy the physical CD now. MAFA.

The Brook & the Bluff albums Werewolf (recent release), First Place, and Yard Sale. New band find. Really liking their albums.

Zach Bryan album With Heaven on Top. This one will be in my top Spotify listens for 2026.

Caamp album By and By.