The pre-story to this race is a tale within itself, as I only gained entry to the race—I had been waitlisted along with Chip— a week prior to the event. Aside from the short notice, I was going to be in Death Valley training for Badwater 135 up until Tuesday of that week, when I was to fly home to…
Author: jodiw5@aol.com
A Guide to Living in the World
A memo to myself for when I forget the basics Happiness is hard work. It is a choice, not a given or a guarantee. It requires a commitment to believing in yourself, your capabilities, and the endless possibilities ahead. It demands a belief that there is always a positive side to every incident. And once you achieve happiness, it requires…
Keys 100 – The Little Bag’s Journey
May 17 – 18 2015 Sometimes things in our lives are inextricably tied together. For me, the Keys 100 is tied to my mom, both in the flesh and in her passing. I will never forget that first year I ran the Keys 50 in 2011. I felt in my being that my mom was passing, that the end was…
Badwater Salton Sea: A tale of hummus, break dancing, and the many uses of hotel rags
Sometime in March, we began to consider Badwater Salton Sea. We, being Bonnie and I. We would discuss it, and then forget about it. Life was hectic. We were all training for Keys 100, which occurs10 days after Salton Sea, and well, we already had so many race and travel plans for the year. But then as with most race…
Why You Do Anything
The great thing about life is, in part, that you get to partake in the lives of others. I am continually amazed at the stories I hear from dear friends and new acquaintances – stories of hope, inspiration, hard work; stories of chance, catastrophe, and positive outcomes, too. More often than not, it’s people who inspire me – they help…
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
For the past decade, I’ve interacted with Millennials and Generation Z students in a college classroom setting, which means that twice a week I get to hear their gripes, their joys, what they care about, and I learn quickly the fastest route to boring them: preaching. Like everyone else, college kids do not want to hear me or anyone else…
Badwater Cape Fear 51.4 – take 2
In 2014, I signed up for the inaugural Badwater Cape Fear 51.4 in the same manner I climb on board for any other ultra event: a new location + beach = fun weekend. I was in! Soon the word was out amongst my Florida ultra buddies, and before we knew it we had gathered a group of 10+ runners and…
The Journey to Badwater 135
“Pain or love or danger makes you real again….” ― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums We often aspire to the things that inspire us and take us out of our comfort zones just enough to evoke fear in us. Some wish to climb Mount Everest or bike across America; others want to build a corporate empire. I am a believer…
Floating Time: turning off & tuning in
It takes time and self-exploration to find what makes each of us tick. Some folks know early on what their passion is, as if they were born knowing, while others are late bloomers, discovering their passions later in life – sometimes by luck, and other times by overcoming the voice that says no, you can’t, and going for it. And…
Happiness: It’s an Inside Job
It seems that the majority of us are always trying to get somewhere, whether it is to a meeting on time, to run an errand, or to the next level of our career. But you don’t often hear people talking about needing to get inside, to where the quiet, the peace, the possibility of making sense, resides. I’ve been writing…