Category: Adventure

SETH’S FIRST BACKYARD ULTRA

I just signed up for this Last Person Standing event, and I’m looking to raise money to support Team Foster’s mission of raising funds to provide accredited, life-saving service dogs to injured and disabled Veterans. Donate here.

“Last Person Standing is a backyard ultra where runners tackle a 4.1-mile loop every hour, on the hour. Finish the loop before the next hour begins and you’re back on the starting line for another. Miss the start of the next loop, even by one second, and you’re out. The cycle continues until only one runner remains.”

I ran the Labor Pain 12 hour endurance trail run back in September, and ran 25 miles, the most I’ve ever run. I’m doing another loop run in November, a six-hour trail loop run (5 mile loops with 450′ of climbing). This Last Person Standing is flat as a pancake, but the added challenge is the time limit – one hour to cover 4.1 miles.

This is a fundraiser, so if you’d like to help support Team Foster’s mission of raising funds to provide accredited, life-saving service dogs to injured and disabled Veterans, please donate here.

A 10K TRAIL RACE WITH 1,300′ OF CLIMBING

Ran a 10k trail race this weekend with 1,300′ of climbing. It was cold and windy, and we were at a high enough elevation for their to be frost on the ground, and it was very rocky. I came in 29th place, out of 33 people.

Volunteers had some very good dogs with them, which made the journey lighter. I was suffering to keep up with the three 60+ aged men in front of me. I’ve been running, and I’d say I’m in shape, but I’m not in race shape.

The winner finished in 50 minutes, 45 seconds, and I came in at 1:21:43. I had fun, though, and helped support the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.

150 DAYS OF 10+ MILES PER DAY

On May 26th of this year I decided I was going to walk 10 miles. Here we are, 150 days later, and I’ve done that every single day, for a total of 1715.1 miles (11.43 miles per day).

Most of those miles were walking, but I’m starting to run about 20 miles per week again. The other day I had a packed day of travel, so I actually ran three times for nine miles. One of those runs was on a shady sidewalk because the treadmills were broken at the hotel I was staying at.

I’m down about 25 pounds, which doesn’t sound like a lot for that much movement, but I’m working towards durability and strength, not just losing weight. And I don’t walk 10 miles all at once, either. I want to get better at that, more miles in one shot. The goal is to do bigger, longer runs. I’m not concerned with speed, I just wanna cover distances, like a full day from one town to another, clocking like 30 or 40 miles in one day.

139 STRAIGHT DAYS OF 10+ MILES PER DAY

This is the second time I intentioanlly came to Jim Thorpe, PA. when it was raining. I love the rain, I love that it puts us “all in the same boat.” Some people hate it, but as you can see, I dig it.

Running is easy, but running in heavy rain, through flooded trails, on a cold and windy day, well.. that’s hard.

But I made it downtown, got a glazed donut and coffee, and ran back to my car. Seven miles total.

Was I wet? Totally. Was it uncomfortable? Sure, it’d feel nicer to stay home and watch football, I guess.

But you know what feels like magic after an effort like this? A warm shower. Homemade coffee. All the little things feel bigger when you do the uncomfortable stuff.

And I got myself a DJI Osmo Action 6, exactly for days like this – rainy, miserable day. My running set up right now keeps my iPhone tucked away, and I really hate using my phone more than I have to. Sure, it takes nice photos and videos, but I hate seeing all that other stuff, which is why I knew I wanted a dedicated camera for these sorts of adventures.

IT AIN’T HARD, BUT IT’S HARD TO DO

A four mile trail run got me to 10 miles, but I wanted 12. I was literally in bed, but I got up, put on some shorts, and set off into the night.

It’s not hard, but it’s hard to do.

I wanted to be able to write down that I did 12 miles, two days in a row.

Walking isn’t hard. But getting started is hard. Getting out the door. Remembering the gloves. All the tiny details, the decisions that need to be made – they all add up.

It ain’t hard, but it’s hard to do.

Today is day 135 of walking 10+ miles per day.

ANOTHER 80 MILE WEEK

About 82 miles this week, maybe 15 of that ran. About 25.5 hours of movement on sidewalks, in the woods, across parking lots, in the streets. A daily average over 11.5 miles. Just over 3.5 hours per day on my feet instead of on my computer, or scrolling through something on my phone.

Had some ankle pain earlier in the week, but thankfully that’s gone away. I think it came from some quicker downhill trail running, so I’m gonna ease off that a bit, as I want to make sure I can continue this streak, as I’m at 132 days right now, which brings me to 1,516 miles.

Every day, since May 26, 2026. Five days after my 50th birthday.

WITHERING AWAY

As I approach 130 days of walking at least 10 miles per day (yikes), I’ve noticed the decay all around. Mostly wooden decks. The type of decks built onto houses. I notice them, and they’re beat up, falling apart, faded.

And I think about when they were built, and how enthused the families must have been. The outdoor meals they’d have, the friends they’d host.

I think about this too with the basketball hoops in the drive ways. The ones that are rusting away, the nets falling apart from multiple years of storms and snow. These basketball hoops were once the best thing ever for the kids. Put together by the parents, who then watched from the kitchen window the local kids come by to shoot hoops.

Cars, too. Trucks. Broken down, sitting next to the garage with grass growing under the fenders, rust on the roof, windows glazed over. At one point that vehicle was someone’s pride and joy. Someone saved up, or got a car loan, and they were so stoked to have that car.

Lots of walking, lots of thinking. The stuff we loved and looked forward to withers away as the years go on.

HOW TO SPEND THREE HOURS A DAY

Doing anything for three hours everyday sounds insane, sure. I’ve been walking 3+ hours a day now for like 120+ days, and well… it sounds a bit much, but I love it.

Now, “about half of Americans say they spend too much time on their smartphone.”

It’s normal to spend 3+ hours a day on the phone, right? It’s just – haha – the way it is!

Somehow devoting 3+ hours a day to your own thing is too much, but selling our attention to our phones, our data plans, and the businesses that monetize our attention is just a fact of life now.

Apps that limit my screen time, or the physical things like Bricks, or dumb phones… that just don’t work for me. Thankfully I’ve found this fun nerdy thing of walking 10+ miles per day every day and seeing where it takes me.