When I started running about 5 years ago I jumped pretty much straight into the half-marathon and marathon distance. Far from a high school or collegiate running background here. As I began to follow a formal training plan, I found the tempo runs and speed work to be more difficult than the longer distance runs but I quickly realized how important they are even for marathon performance.

In The Seven Sins of Memory, author Daniel Schacter describes the ways that the mind forgets and remembers. He divides memory’s malfunctions into seven fundamental transgressions or ‘sins’, while arguing that these features of human memory aren’t necessarily good or bad but all serve a useful purpose. For example, persistence is one of the sins of memory that can lead to things like post traumatic stress syndrome but it is also necessary for long-term memory.

“Up for doing a bit of running in San Diego in June?”

I had quite a few big training runs on the schedule leading up to my first 100 km race, the Waldo 100k later this summer, so when two friends asked if I’d crew and pace at the San Diego 100 miler, it sounded like a great excuse for a vacation.

My friends Hozumi and Jeremy, both much more experienced and talented runners, have been really great in mentoring me over the past year as I transitioned from road to trail and in training for longer distances, so I was happy to help.

They say you achieve peak physical performance at the age of 27. When I turned 27 (5 years ago today, in fact) I didn’t feel like I was at the peak of much.

I had been casually ‘jogging’ and going to the gym, as most people eventually find themselves doing at some point in their 20’s, but never with any consistency. I never thought that just a few years later I would be calling myself a trail and ultra distance runner.

I figured it was time to pause and take a quick look back at the last year or so in trail running as I complete my journey from road to trail; from marathon to ultra.