The Stubborn Tortoise

Brian Sharp is an inspirational runner, not only because he has overcome disabilities or obstacles, but because of his positivity. He is someone with an interesting back story and has some audacious goals for the next year. In my outtro, I talk about my GVRAT experience, making mosaic-tiled pots, do you want swag and more.

Seresa eats 100 miles for breakfast. She has the ideal mindset and training discipline one needs to tackle those goals. She shares her story of her running journey as well as what's ahead in her future: spoiler alert: she plans to log 150 miles this year at Snowdrop!

Half of the adventure of doing an out-of-town trail race is getting there. In the first of a monthly segment, Paz and Hundo, aka Orlando Montalvo, will share stories and advice or worthless information (ha ha). Our inaugural episode is about travel. We share some of our favorite stories of being on the road, ranging from a deflated air mattress to a toxic-smelling hotel room to sleeping on the onl...

Mendoza, a South Texas native, has a compelling backstory about his upbringing, race and being first in his family to graduate from college. He coaches high school cross country and has seen his team win state championships. He raises money for his team to travel outside of the Valley by holding local road and trail races. In between, he coaches adults. He is a very accomplished runner in his own...

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Chris McWatters, the race director for Tejas Trails, was oblivious to what was transpiring. He was marking the course at Camp Eagle, site of the J&J Trail Running Reunion, which is notorious for having little to no cell phone access. His wife, Krissy, was trying to reach him to tell him that everything was shutting down and wondered how they were going to find t...

I returned to the Rio Grande Valley this past weekend to reconnect with friends and the place where my trail-running career began. The reason: the Mesquite Fire trail race. It was among the first "live" running events since Texas reopened after the pandemic closed the state. I met up with a lot of friends and reacquainted myself with the sea-level, hard-packed trails. I got most of the "full exper...

I love music. I was a music writer in undergrad (not mentioned in this episode), which led me to a career in journalism. (that's another story.) Music can make a run all the better. I talk about my obsession with Orville Peck , my love of Fatboy Slim , The Clash and GirlTalk . And, as an added bonus, I have included my updated playlist from Spotify. It has something for everyone, I think. :) El te...

It's probably not nice, but my friend Maria and I decided we didn't want to be beaten today by a woman in blue, whom we passed during our 10K at The Tangle. Ha ha.

Orly, as I call him, is one of my favorite people. He has a big laugh, a big personality and a penchant for doing big races. He has completed six, 100-milers -- three with his lovely wife, Kathy. Yours truly tried to get him through his first Rocky Raccoon 100. That is a story in itself. His big accomplishment was finishing the beast known as Cactus Rose 100 in October. He was properly trained and...

I volunteered and ran over the weekend at the J&J Trail Running Reunion. It was fun seeing old friends, making new ones and getting...creative with serving ramen. I ran a decent 4-miler and was happy to not be last for a change. I may be on a comeback. Maybe. Photo: A still from a video I shot at the pavilion on Friday evening. Look how organized everything is!

Thomas Bowling, soon-to-be-59, is a legend of the San Antonio running circuit. He has numerous ultras accomplished, with just a couple of races he'd like to do over. He is fearless about 100Ks to 100-milers. A counselor, he uses his own techniques to help himself get through tough, uncomfortable spots. Volunteering is another of his favorite ways to give back. He also managed to subconsciously con...

A recap of a crazy, horrible week, along with lessons learned and stories from the past. Plus, a recap (with an ending) from Rocky Raccoon, since my power went out as I recorded last week's episode.  Photo: my back porch on Feb. 15, 2021

Seriously, we have 3 inches of snow on the ground and it is below freezing. Six days ago, it was 80. We got this nasty polar vortex thing and it won't let up until the weekend. Meanwhile, my power goes out every 30 minutes for 10 minutes.  Otherwise, I took my friend, Jessica, to Huntsville over the weekend for the Rocky Raccoon half marathon. We had a lost car key and found it. The wind chil...

 I have a Big Birthday on Friday, which has churned up a lot of angst and sadness, but also some optimism. I talk about my ongoing struggle with depression and overcoming the stigmas associated with it. I also give a few shoutouts, race updates and talk about the sundry items I collected during a trail cleanup on Sunday. Here is where you can sign up for Sunday.

In an effort to demonstrate that I can be accountable, I ran all of the miles I was supposed to last week. Hey, it's a start. I also managed to run a 10-mile race and come in dead last in my distance. Baby steps. To further hold myself accountable, I signed up for a couple of challenging events: The Salsa Walk , where participants walk from the Chuy's in Selma to the one in San Marcos, for the 50K...

I met Pamela a couple of years ago as we both slogged through the Brazos Bend 50-miler. She saved me with her 30-30 timer, stories and a touch of Fireball. Since then, she has racked up a bunch of ultras, with the most recent being a 55-hour virtual where she logged 129 miles! She is super-positive and motivating. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Photo: Pamela at the Alamo City Ultra in 2019.

Being a single parent is a big enough challenge, but throw a pandemic into the mix and things get even trickier: it's not like you can leave your kids with a friend or distant relative while you take a little time for yourself. Mayra Caamaño, of The Woodlands,  and Hilda Ochoa, who lives outside of San Antonio, tell their stories, offer their coping mechanisms and talk about finding gratitude...

Last weekend, I learned that there is more to volunteering at a race than handing out food and drink and medals. I found out there is a lot of prep: ice, fruit, propane, pallets of bread and tools to be purchased and more. There are stakes to be driven, signs to be stapled to said stakes, caution tape to be strung. On race day, there was blood, hungry folks snapping up mashed potatoes topped with...

Happy New Year! Like most runners, I am always learning new things about myself: mental attitude, nutrition, hydration, gear. I got a new hydration vest -- the Nathan Vapor Howe -- and really like it. My former brand, Ultimate Direction, didn't live up to my expectations, so I switched. I also have been tweaking my diet and have added a couple of supplements, which seem to help. I also tried caffe...

This one is a year-end two-fer: I talked to  Gary Trautmann, a San Antonio-based runner, who talks about COVID running. He's also a master's runner. He talks about lessons learned during COVID and why it is so much better to run with a  group, in terms of motivation. He is training for his first  50K  this spring: either Prickly Pear at McAllister Park in San Antonio or Brazos...

I met Kelly in January as we ran with our friend, Louisa, at Bandera. We were the witnesses to her breaking her ankle. Since then, Kelly has run two trail marathons and is ready for the Bandera 50K on Jan. 10. She is a cancer survivor, dedicated to her kids and grandkids and is admirably consistent in banging out those miles. Prepare to be inspired. Photo: Kelly's first 25K at the J&J Reunion...

I joined a handful of folks over the weekend to volunteer at The Mosaic trail race, outside of Austin. It was a gig that occasionally got confusing: the course is a big Figure-8 and depending on the distance people were running, they started going in one of two directions and looping back and forth, again, depending on the distance of their race. People occasionally finished and didn't stop to pic...

This is a mixed bag of stuff. We start off with my friend, Agatha Halekulani Kerr's latest adventure: a 600K ( 372) miles to raise funds for a church/school in Costa Rica in early February. I wasn't planning on talking about this, but I decided to talk about how people get into a cult and reprised the tale of the Rev. Jim Jones, who lured 900 folks from the US to Guyana, in northern South America,...

I happened upon Dickie Longo via my friend, Agatha Kerr, a San Antonio-area running friend. She is editing a book about Dickie by an Australian writer named Sue Oaks. Oaks needed some additional interviewing to help flesh out his story. Agatha asked me if I could help. I was a little nervous parachuting into someone else's project, but I accepted the challenge. Last Monday, I talked to this except...

Somehow, I thought it was a good idea to skimp on dinner the night before and breakfast the morning of a race. Even worse, I under packed my drop bags and didn't have enough food to sustain me through a 25K race. My thinking was, "Oh, it's only a 7.5 or so loop with a stop midway. I'll be fine." The humidity was 92% and the temperatures neared 80. I drained my little 12-ounce handheld before each...