What draws so many of us to Javelina Jundred 100 mile/100K trail race each year? For starters, McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona hosts trails that are just the right blend of climbs and descents to keep runners engaged and moving – not to mention the picturesque landscape. The course, which mainly consists of the Pemberton Trail, is…
Author: jodiw5@aol.com
How To Make Your Job Work For You
In my 20’s, I worked for a boss that would have qualified for anyone’s worst nightmare. Demeaning, demanding, ready to pass the blame, needy and long-winded: check. My first week, I learned that seven 20-somethings who had the role before me had all quit. I was in graduate school at the time, and combined with a 40+ hour work week,…
Why We All Need to Get Grittier
Grit is one of those words that we toss around and use synonymously with bravery, courage, tenacity, perseverance, resolution, and so on. And it is all of those things, but I would venture to say that grit spans beyond the typical definitions: it is a mindset. A choice. A decision on how you pursue and tackle each and every aspect…
What Monks Taught Me about Work Ethic and Finding Balance
Some 12 years back, I went on a life changing adventure that still serves as a source of inspiration for me. I spent three months living amongst Benedictine and Trappist monks. I had no idea at the beginning what my venture would lead to – I was on a mission to do research for a novel that had captured my…
Career Check-Up
If you find yourself answering I don’t know to the big questions in your life, today is the day to start exploring. If you don’t know what you seek, then surely no one, including yourself, will be able to help you to get where you’re going. We live in a world that is constantly evolving – careers that existed…
National Endurance Sports Summit (NESS) 2015
While it’s easy to convince ourselves that only super humans can climb the Seven Summits and complete Badwater Quads (584 miles back and forth from Badwater Basin to the summit of Mount Whitney), the endurance athletes we met at the 2nd annual National Endurance Sports Summit (NESS), hosted by Team U at Princeton University, reminded us that when one has…
The Woman on the Bus: a tribute to my mentors
Lee K. Abbot, the author and professor, was one of my most favorite writing teachers. He had a human element to him both inside and outside of the classroom. He was a man’s man, but also a sensitive soul, who was not afraid of letting his students experience his blend of stern and soft. Most importantly, he was not afraid…
9/11 – In Remembrance of the Missing People
I remember that September morning well – the air was crisp and breezy with a hint of fall. The sun bright and commanding. At around 6 am, I ran my favorite 6.2 mile loop in Central Park. There was something about the park that day, the pool-blue sky, the hopefulness I always feel in September, that made me want to linger…
Grits, Guts, and Determination: Leadville Trail 100 – A Crew Member’s Perspective
Leadville – The Town We arrived in the town of Leadville late Thursday afternoon. A Florida flat lander, I was apprehensive that the altitude was going to wreak havoc on me. The town of Leadville, where we were to stay pre and post-race, sits at 10,200 feet, which is the highest altitude of any incorporated city in North America. I…
Badwater 135 – Going the Distance
Pre-race check in smiles. For me, Badwater 135 was a race whose magic didn’t fully set in until a few days after I finished. Perhaps it’s because I had so much fear and doubt going into the race—what if I failed? What if one of my crew mates or myself got sick? What if something happened to my dad? I…