“Its been a few since weeks since my last blog post.” These are the same words that started my previous blog…. However, I have been active, both in running and creatively. I recorded three interviews and posted them to my website. I guess I’ve started a podcast…or something resembling a very unprofessional series of recorded conversations.

Merrill’s Mile Training

On the running side, I have just finished up the “meat” of my training for the Merrill’s Mile 48 hour event on July 10th. By “meat” I mean cramming in the longest runs I can on Saturday and Sunday and staying consistent at 5-6 miles a day throughout the week. The race is about 2 weeks away, so, I am now in the “taper” mode.

Saturday, June 6th, was the third annual running of Helen’s vert challenge. I was able to get away for a longer day out, or what was actually a long night. Helen’s vert challenge is an unofficial race, organized by SB trail legend, Helen Payne. The challenge is to run repeats on the local Powerlines uphill trail, accumulating as much vertical gain as possible in a fixed timeframe. Most people come out for the three hour event on Sunday morning. But there is also a 24-hour event that starts on Saturday morning. I ran the 24 hour event in year one, two years ago, and helped support the 24 hour runners overnight last year.

This year, on the day the event started, Kerong and I had to drive down to LA to drop Kerong’s mom off at LAX so she could fly back to China. So, I could not make it for the start of the 24 hour run. However, I planned to run a 12 hour challenge…starting at 10pm. I cannot realistically leave Kerong and Basil for 12 hours, much less 24 hours. But, these 12 hours would be overnight, when they are sleeping. This run would also be a good practice in sleep deprivation. I had to wake up at about 5 am on Saturday and drive all day before getting to the challenge at 10pm that night. Then, after the challenge, I would need to stay awake on Sunday to help take care of Basil. Good plan 😅

When I arrived at the event, I took a few minutes to get my pack together with the water and food I would need. Helen introduced me to her friend John Parsons, in town from Seattle, who was using the event as a training run for Mammoth 200 later this year. She asked if I would run with him for a while. Sounded fun to me, so John and I set off on the trail…into the night, guided by our headlamps.

As we climbed the Powerlines trail, we kept a jogging pace, which was much easier for me to do with fresh legs. John, on the other hand, was 12 hours into his run. But he kept pace with me – evidence that his 200 mile training was going well.

As we reached the final, steepest section of the trail, we came across the rest of the 24 hour runners. They were all doing repeats on this one-third mile section of steep trail to maximize the vertical gain. This was a new tactic at the event this year. These runners were working towards a very particular goal.

This year, Helen introduced the “Everest” challenge – anyone who was able to accumulate 29,032 feet of vertical gain (the height of Mt Everest) in the 24 hours would win a unique belt buckle. In year’s past, the 24 hour runners mostly ran together in a pack along the entire 2.5 mile trail. And the feeling was a bit more casual – just have fun and take of each other through the night. With the addition of the Everest challenge, runners became much more focused on that goal. I could tell they were really pushing themselves. I admired their determination to reach the goal, but I could tell some were close to cracking and would likely need a rest and reset before the night turned back to day.

I stuck with John, running up and down the trail, occasionally heading back to the aid station headquarters for resupplies where we could get a warm bowl of ramen and use a bathroom. It was fun getting the chance to chat about all things from running to life experiences with John. Long-distance running has a way of forming quick, close bonds with strangers. We ran about 9 hours together before our paces separated.

I was able to get in 45 miles and about 12,000 feet of vertical gain in my 12 hour run. I was feeling quite sleepy in the last hour, as well as having some tummy issues. But I felt like I could go more if I wanted to, which is the goal I was shooting for with this run. It was a good opportunity for a supported 12 hour training run in preparation for Merrill’s Mile 48 hour event.

John Parsons ended up with an impressive 88 miles and 22,000 feet of vertical gain. Also, Jon Sutherland, with his calves of steel, was able to achieve the Everest challenge, totaling 30,000 feet of vert in 24 hours. Will Radis also hit the Everest goal, although a bit after the 24 hour limit.

The vert challenge wrapped up week 2 of a four-week push for Merrill’s Mile training. The week prior I ran about 76 miles, which included a 20 mile run, followed by a 25 mile run the next day. In the week following the vert challenge, I stayed consistent on my 6 mile weekday runs and then did a 21 mile Saturday run. On Sunday, I did a 20 mile run in the morning, and then did another 10 in the evening, which included 5 sub-7-minute miles (fast for me). Week 3 of the push contained about 80 miles.

I kept rolling into the next week, with consistent morning miles. I had that Friday off work for a holiday, so I planned one last big push. Three big days, back-to-back-to-back. The plan was to run about 80 miles over the three days, which would bring me just over 100 miles on the week.

On Friday, I woke up to my 2:30 AM alarm. When you have a 6 month old at home, you have to get long runs started extra early so you can get back home to help with morning routines and other dad duties. I started my run in the light of my headlamp, about 4AM. Although summer solstice was this weekend, the longest day of the year, I still beat the sunrise.

I ran along the bike path that roughly follows the coast. I went out 16 miles and back 16 miles, for 32 miles on the day. The elapsed time was about 4 hours and 45 minutes. I was happy with the time – I felt like I could keep going if I wanted to, and I fueled well throughout the run, never hitting a low point.

Once I got home, I took a bit of time to shower and eat a second breakfast. Then it was into Basil duty so Kerong could work on her dissertation. Hanging out with Basil was a nice way to recover. It required energy, so I had to keep my body working, rather than shutting down for the day.

On Saturday, I was planned to run somewhere between 25 and 30 miles. When I awoke to my 2:30 AM alarm, my legs were quite sore. As I started my run, my legs felt like heavy logs, not wanting to generate the turnover to hold a steady running pace. I tried my best to push through my general tiredness and fatigue. The point of these back-to-back-to-back longs run was to let my body experience a long run with a higher level of fatigue.

I started to feel a little better after the first hour – the legs started to turnover with a bit more ease, but it was still hard. I ended up deciding to keep this run to about 20 to 22 miles, or however much I would end up with at the end of the loop route I was running.

I finished with 22 miles in about 3 hours, 25 minutes. It was a tough day, so I did what I could after the run to rest my legs and recover. I was able to get in touch with Jon Sutherland to get him to run with me for some of my Sunday long run. I would need to get about 26 miles to reach my 80 mile 3-day goal.

Upon waking waking up on Sunday morning, my legs did not feel quite as sore as Saturday morning. I’m not sure how; I had still run 22 miles on Saturday. I started my run at a decent pace, not fast, but sustainable. Jon would join me around mile 7.

Once I met up with Jon, my spirits lifted higher. Its always easier to click off miles with a good friend and good conversation. We talked about our running goals, including Jon’s training for the Angeles Crest 100 mile race in October.

We started making plans about how we could document his journey to AC 100. There is a naturally good story there – he attempted the AC 100 back in 2022 and got timed out. Now he is back in 2026 to finally get to the finish line. He has volunteered at the race in the years between his first attempt and now.

I will likely do some short recorded interviews with him a couple times in the next few months leading up to the race. The goal is to show the hard work and dedication it takes for a “hobby jogger” or “midpacker” to even attempt a project like a 100 mile footrace in the mountains. Its no small task!

Jon and I ran together for about 15 miles before we parted ways. I still had to get back to the house. I realized I underestimated the mileage of the route I chose, I would end up with about 29 miles that day and I was able to finish the run feeling strong.

I successfully reached my “80 miles in three days” goal, and put up over 100 miles on the week. This was the last week of my 4-week push of higher mileage. My legs were well seasoned. The next week, I would drop my mileage back down to about 60 miles for the week. If I could get through this week, after 4 big weeks, my legs would be nicely cooked, but not overdone. There would be enough time to the legs rest and soak in the fitness before the race.

I think I am in a good position, physically and mentally, for Merrill’s Mile – I was able to get through this 60 mile week, which included an uptempo 20 miles on Saturday. My legs feel a bit sore, but no serious pains. Its the type of soreness that will increase my fitness after some recovery time. The goal for the next two weeks before race day will be to just stay consistent with my 5-6 mile morning runs – probably hitting no more than 10 miles on the weekend.

Kerong, Basil, and I will fly to Georgia on Friday, July 3rd. Luckily, I will be able to take a couple weeks off from work around the race. This will allow me to get a decent amount of sleep in the days leading up to the race. Sleep has definitely been the missing piece of my training. Having a new baby at home and a full-time job on top of running has meant that I often get less than six hours of sleep.

In the week leading up to the race I plan to decrease my caffeine intake – hopefully to zero coffee. On race day, I will bring some homemade cold brew. The hope is that I will get a big boost from the caffeine when I start getting sleepy in the race.

I have two main goals for Merrill’s Mile, both of which seem a bit scary, but I think they are achievable for me. First, I am aiming to run at least 200 miles. Second, I am planning to sleep no more than 1 hour cumulative during the 48 hours. The distance goal seems quite tough, although I’ve gone 200 miles before (Tahoe 200 in 2025). I know I will have to be able dig deep and keep myself moving when my body and mind are completely exhausted. I will have to be able to push past what will feel like a limit in the moment.

The sleep goal is interesting. At Tahoe 200 last year, sleep was a huge challenge for me. I took multiple 1-hour-plus sleeps and several 10-15 minute dirt naps. While the short dirt naps did seem to help, I kept getting so sleepy I could barely focus on walking forward. I started hallucinating quite a bit towards the end. I have a theory that once I took my first extended sleep at Tahoe, my mind became more susceptible to feeling sleepy. I think that, if I am able to hold myself to short 5 minute dirt naps, I may able to keep myself moving- even if its just a walk. I am also thinking that the caffeine fast before the race will help the coffee have a more dramatic effect during the race.

In less than two weeks, the race will begin, and so will the experiment on myself. I am hopeful that I have put in the work to reach my goals and come away proud of myself. After all, I am not a pro runner, I don’t get paid to run races – I do it for the love of running and to experience wild feelings and emotions that I don’t typically encounter in our modern civilized, sanitized society. Multi-day running is a wild adventure through not only the physical world, but also the soul.

Recent Music Selections:

All Them Witches. – new album House of Mirrors. Pretty sweet, will need to listen a few more times.

Johnny Blue Skies – new album Mutiny After Midnight. Thankful he decided to put it on Spotify for streaming. Considering buying it. One of my favorite albums of the year so far.

The Red Clay Strays – new album Grateful. Will have to give this one a second listen. A bit too tired on the first listen.

Goose – new album Big Modern! Also likely a favorite album of 2026. They have such a good way of putting together an album. Each one is a capsule of atmosphere, unique every time.

Zach Bryan – With Heaven on Top. Released earlier in 2026. Another favorite of the year.

Mount Hush- self titled album. A good stoner-rock listen. I’m getting more into the modern day scene after finding All Them Witches.

Widespread Panic 6/14/2026 Columbia, MD. Thanks to taper: Z-Man.

Daniel Donato – album from 2025 Horizons. Somehow missed this one last year. Really nice jams, csomic country style.