Of course, for runners!
When I am tired of reading books, I usually browse to these inspirational blogs which happen to be the blogsites of the top mountain trail runners in the United States. Yes, these elite trail runners are very good writers and they are very transparent in their daily journals and in their race reports. They follow the same principle of “consistency” in their training as well as in their writing to update their blogs!
It is sad to say that I no longer read and browse the local runner-bloggers because some of them are not regularly updated; too much advertisement of products and running events; and most of them are becoming “tools” of PR establishments. You could no longer read posts which are inspirational in nature or maybe a complete journal that depicts the experience of a runner in his/her training and races. (Well, who cares about your experiences in running a 5K, 10K, 15K or Half-Marathon if you have been doing that for the past 5-10 years!) Only one local blogger remains to be my favorite as of this date—Atty Jon Lacanlale’s “Ultrarunning & Beyond”
Going back to these inspirational trail runners’ blogs. If you regularly read these blogs, you could feel what they are going through in their training and preparation for a certain event. Moreso, when they describe their experiences in their race reports every time they finish a race. In these race reports, they are very humble to accept that they are defeated or mention the reasons why they won in a said event. These runners regularly post their stories and they are very transparent. They would bravely and humbly tell that they are injured in their training and DNFed in their races. They could be product endorsers of running shoes and apparels but you seldom read “bullshit” endorsements from them about the products they are using.
Anton Krupicka’s “Running The Wind” had greatly influenced me when I started going to “Brown Mountain” which is measly 8-mile total run distance. His posts drive me to love mountain trail running which resulted to my first Headlands 50-Mile Trail Run in the Marin Headlands last July of this year although I had my first bout with my first ultra trail run at the Bulldog 50K last August 2008.
Geoff Roes’ “Fumbling Towards Endurance” is also a great read from the No. 1 “Ultra Trail Runner of the Year” Award nominee for the year 2010 for having won prestigious 50-mile & 100-mile endurance trail races to include this year’s Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run.
Dave Mackey and Dakota Jones blogs are also not far behind in posting their stories and experiences in their training and races.
Another new trail runner who had his 1st 50-mile trail run last December 4 of this year is also emerging as an inspirational blog for trail runners. His name is Jason Schlarb who have been greatly influenced by Tony Krupicka’s blog and his running philosophy. You have to commend this runner as he placed #5 in his 1st 50-mile trail run. By the way, Jason is an active Captain of the US Air Force.
Not to be outdone as one of my inspirational blogs is my friend Rick Gaston’s “365 me”. He hails from Bacolod City but was raised and educated in Hawaii, USA. After changing his residence to San Francisco, California, he had been consistently on the top 10-20 rankings in ultra trail races he had joined for the past 6-7 years. He also finished the prestigious Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in 2006.
So, if you are a hardcore runner or would like to be one, these are the running blogs that will inspire you for more running experiences and adventures.
Waiting and expecting for a runner’s blog from our local elite runners and coaches would be another story!
Good luck and happy reading!
Bald Runner 
Sir Jovie, thanks for the links!
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i hope you’ll be inspired.
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Ouch! Guilty ako dito [a bit].
Seriously though, I notice that many others are opting to post on Facebook instead of their blogs. Which is sad. I love reading blogs! I love looking at pictures! And best of all, most blogs are not blocked in offices compared to Facebook!
If there’s one local blog that I look forward to with updates, it the one I got from Bard’s blogroll — Life Begins at 50. http://www.norberta.blogspot.com/
I find it down to earth and simply amazing! She was able to finish a full marathon at such a late age, juggling work, managing her family and taking care of old parents! I also love her candor of not surviving life with Coca-Cola!!!
I wish she would update it more regularly though. There are so many things that I just find amazing as to how running has enabled her to reach for new goals in life.
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norberta is amazing with her running stories and her posts. actually, i’ve been reading her posts but she needs to update her blog. what is distinct with these foreign bloggers is that they don’t post or update their FB accounts.
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I am also guilty of not regularly updating my blog because sometimes there is not much to tell anything UC (ultra content as opposed to NUC {non-ultra content} for those new in our sports). Also, work, family (4 kids under my wings) and training pretty eat my 24 hours. How often I wished If I could just RUN, EAT, SLEEP and repeat. Probably then I could break the course record of DBM102 🙂 But that is not the life for me.
The title of my blog (Ultrarunning and Beyond) pretty limits my topics as well:) Most often than not, I really choose the topic I post. I do not want to post for the sake of posting nor incidentally, anything which will be of no benefit to my readers. We are on the same boat. I almost no longer read local blogs like I used to because it has become too “showbiz” and commercialized. Let us admit it also. Local UC blogs are scarce and perhaps it reflects the present state of ultrarunning in our country.
We rarely run ultras nor we train as hard as as those elite runners. (In fact, I don’t know when I can break 160kms or more of training per week and still have a life). They are the icons of the present generation of ultrarunners and we look up to them as”gods”. Among the elites, Anton and Geoff are my best picks not because they are strong and fast but moreso on their philosophy towards running in general. Philosophy which when ingrained and practiced will have all of us running until the twilight of our years. It is a way of life. They are not selfish also in the sense that they are willing to share their knowledge with mere mortals like us. Some runners keep their training so secret but not these runners. Thanks and cheers!
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atty jon, you are right about these “gods” in ultrarunning aside from the fact that some of them are students and have also “day” jobs. it is their running philosophy that counts most to me and how i wish i could turn back the clock on me! hahaha! that is the reason why they inspire a lot of runners because they are very transparent and humble plus the fact that they are good writers, too!
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Kudos to Rick Gaston also. He was very helpful during my early years in ultra. Kind and generous in giving advise. I normally call him sensei. It pays to read his blog as well. Cheers!
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rick g is a great & awesome guy! words would not explain how generous this guy is! he gladly offered his services as my crew/pacer in my next year’s miwok 100 experience. looking forward to this event!
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Awesome! That will be a trail race. Train well, safely and goodluck. It’ll be exciting to have Rick by your side. Hey Rick G. Easy on the old man, will ya? Hehe. Cheers!
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Thank you for listing my blog as being “inspirational”, I’m honored!
I do have one correction to make though: while I am an active duty Air Force officer, I am still a Captain and not quite a Major.
The mistake with rank was made when I misspoke for a running times interview after the North Face 50 Mile Championships in SF and subsequently I was misquoted as being a Major. Looking forward to that promotion though!
Your Blog is great and I enjoy reading it. Look forward to “running” into you some day.
Jason Schlarb
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jason, i am awed & surprised with your visit & comment. thanks for posting. yes, i got the info from the Running Times interview and i tried to review your blog posts to confirm it. anyway, i have corrected it already but i know in due time, you’ll get it.
it’s becoming a daily habit to visit your blog and read your posts. hopefully, i’ll have the chance to have a picture with you in one of the trail running events in the USA. good luck on your “nuece endurance trail run 50-mile” event this coming march 2011.
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