Blog

Run for over fifty years and you’re bound to eventually learn a few things. One such lesson is that being tired from a workout is not the same as being worn out from not having a sufficient recovery from your workouts. I can distinctly recall races where what I called “tired legs” limited my performance and in some cases, led to an injury. This essential lesson is the topic of today’s post. Walking with Rick? There’s more to recovery than “not running.” As I’ll delve into

406 days. Approximately 9757 hours. That’s how long it had been since my last race. As those who follow this post know, the time since that race has seen far too much drama. Knee injury. Platelet-Rich Plasma injection. MRI. Meniscus surgery. Blah. Blah. Blah. What mattered most to me was the walk up to that starting line in downtown Ames, Iowa. Me and just over four hundred other participants clustering closer and closer together. What was going through my head? Prett

That's one way to model our new singlets! For the first time since the pandemic, I did not participate in the Market-to-Market Relay. That makes sense, I hear you saying. You’re still recovering from knee surgery. To be honest, my decision not to participate in the 75-mile relay race has little to do with my healing meniscus. I’d pretty much made the decision to step down from our Body Project team after last year’s race. Then it must have been a race that you didn’t really

May 2, 2026. Leaving earlier than any sane person on a Saturday morning and armed with a playlist of musical gems from 1976, I braved a morning chill to run not one, not two, but … five miles! Huh? Just five miles? I know. That’s nothing to most other runners. A year ago, it was nothing to me. But now, it's the longest distance I've ran since September 27, 2025. On that note, I’m also up to running five days a week and scheduled to return to workouts with my coach - both

It happened on Pre’s Trail in Eugene last month. Call it an epiphany. Call it a defining moment. Or just call it a good day. Regardless, I left that workout with a greater determination and goal. I wanted to run again. It was a cool, foggy morning. A soundtrack of late 1983 music kept me company on those sawdust trails as I alternated five minutes of running with three minutes of walking. Although it was a world removed from what I’d have been doing just six months earli

The closest I ever came to Dan Marino. Dear Rick, This email comes from yourself, sent nearly twenty years from your future. I'm sending...

This is me wondering if I left the fireplace on at the house. “Because, sir, you are an idiot.” That was my response to the question I...

Would you believe that most participants in this event actually wear red flannel tops? I went to bed February 14 prepared to compete in...

Believe it or not, Krusteaz is a PNW company that makes pancake mix. Meet Mr. Reasonably-Nice Guy. That’s me. Or so I’m hoping. ...

Have you ever experienced a time in your life that you were simply happy to be in the moment? A time where nothing could take away the...

One of the most pivotal moments in my life occurred on a quiet Sunday evening in July 1979. I received a phone call from the...