tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83645330695778288732024-03-13T22:29:34.909-07:00The Miles and Pages ProjectRebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-65117075967593614172015-08-03T20:26:00.000-07:002015-08-04T19:48:11.597-07:00Mt. Tam Double Century and the last stage of the California Triple Crown Stage Race
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This is a very different blog from the one I was going to write. It never ceases to amaze me that, although there have been great gains for women involved in sport, there are still lapses into what I can only describe as a lack common sense and basic human decency.
This weekend, I competed in the third stage of the Triple Crown Stage Race. I toed the line with my bike just like everyone Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-790554736707927462015-07-03T18:31:00.001-07:002015-07-03T18:31:19.723-07:00Race Report: Coeur d'Alene Ironman
Noonish, Race Day: “You can just stay here and cool down a while,” the volunteer said, crouching in front of me. The tent was dark and there were, maybe, two or three other female competitors seated near me hearing similar lines from the volunteers which attended them. The light outside was a blinding white and my eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the darkness just as I hadn’t adjustedRebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-74137369084700003002015-06-24T19:52:00.004-07:002015-06-24T19:58:21.772-07:00Ironman, At LastAs I sit here looking out across my garden, I can't help but think that something important has transpired, and I simply haven't discovered what it is, exactly, yet. This is not like any other race prep-- nor are the past six months comparable to any other time in my life. Never have I felt more unprepared and vulnerable than I do now: I think Ironman has a pretty fair shot at killing me slowly Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-60870164657294392972015-05-30T17:32:00.002-07:002015-05-30T17:32:42.889-07:00It's been three years since the MFA...This is such a random post that I'm not really even sure what prompted it. Maybe it was the quality of light on my run this morning, like a dawn I saw three years ago. Or, maybe it was the smell of the run after work, the way the clouds rolled in from the Sierra Nevada, the way the air turned just slightly moist, with just the faintest hint of rain (the suggestion of newness, of rebirth.) &Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-33398465778593961832015-05-20T21:19:00.002-07:002015-05-20T21:20:02.358-07:00Davis Double: Up and down, but mostly upA few days ago, I completed the Davis Double for the second time.
This means, for me, that I have now completed the California Triple Crown, something I couldn't do last year, and I'm so proud of myself I'm dancing on my toes like a giddy person. (I'm also dancing on my toes like a giddy person because two of my essays have been published by major literary magazines, I'm in love, I have Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-19519240031551430612015-04-26T19:39:00.001-07:002015-04-26T20:05:44.020-07:00Ride Report: 2015 Devil Mountain DoubleIt's funny how life comes back around in on itself sometimes, as though we construct moments not in a linear fashion (from beginning to end), but instead like a spiral, circling back on the people and places we knew that we thought were in the past. I've always hated the phrase that "things happen for a reason" (I don't believe they do)-- but I am learning the value of experience (and the Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-405595071000011252015-04-23T20:02:00.002-07:002015-04-24T14:15:54.527-07:00Escape from Prison Hill Half Marathon: An Unexpected VictoryIt's taken me a while to digest this past weekend and the fact that I won a half-marathon. I didn't sign up for this race thinking I could win or, really, take any of the spots on the podium. Granted, I'm not sure how many people wake up and say to themselves: Ah man, I really want to run up and down and around and up and up and up this random hill which sits over the prison in Carson City,Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-44224156846206677032015-04-15T20:28:00.000-07:002015-04-15T20:28:27.150-07:00Definitions & Chickens: Random Thoughts
I realized this morning that I haven’t blogged—or written much, really—lately and that is terribly depressing. I get this feeling more and more these days, this sense that a part of my life is gone (a part which was very important to me) the part in which I swam through words and not a chlorinated pool. But, I wonder: how do you find the time for something like writing (which is a practiceRebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-79904990383729787932015-03-27T12:00:00.000-07:002015-03-27T15:14:27.459-07:00Solvang Double Century: Sharing the Miles
Maybe
it’s because it’s Spring or maybe it’s because I’m headed into a new racing
season but possibility—and the possibility of change—have been on my mind
lately. Greenery, new blossoms on trees,
new things to plant in my garden and new challenges are waiting in the next few
months as the days grow longer and warmer.
I
had kind of a rough go of my first few attempts at Double Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-90800143377886967862015-03-02T19:42:00.000-08:002015-03-02T19:50:18.694-08:00...And we're back (spirit, soul and sweat)
I guess there's something to be said about the speed at which you complete things:
some people run 400 meter races (once around a track) because they can do it well under a minute. And then there are people like me who can also run 400 meters but who must do it not once, not twice or even ten times, but probably something more like a million maybe, if I'm to do anything impressive with Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-52858762983293679472015-02-17T19:09:00.002-08:002015-02-17T19:09:38.034-08:00The Placement of ThingsI have been putting this blog together, taking it apart, restructuring it and re-working it again and again over the past few days. Granted, the landscape might have helped with this: I spent Sunday night and most of Monday honoring American Presidents by sleeping, walking, bathing, hiking, photographing and all sorts of other verb-ing in the Desatoya Range in Eastern(ish) Nevada. It's a Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-43278780049045539962015-02-07T18:20:00.002-08:002015-02-07T18:20:25.122-08:00The Nature of InfluenceFor some reason, I'm really struggling with the third day of this five day Art Challenge to basically create, post, ruminate, and reflect on all things artistic. Maybe a part of the a struggle is that my blood is still in my legs from today's long ride on the CompuTrainer or the fact that (as I mentioned in the past from yesterday) that I am not producing work to display, explain, reflect and Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-28241354900633174842015-02-06T17:53:00.002-08:002015-02-06T19:20:15.529-08:00Where does the ART come from?This blog post is inspired by a facebook post which was inspired by a writer I'm beyond lucky to call my friend, Kelsay Myers. Kelsay and I were colleagues in the MFA program at Saint Mary's College where we both received degrees in Nonficton Writing in 2012. Kelsay went on to receive a second MFA with a focus on poetry while I ventured into the "real" world where I worked a series of extremely Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-13065296737935466312015-01-21T20:14:00.000-08:002015-01-30T18:13:00.619-08:00Get a Day Job!
Recently, I came across a professional job-search site, TheLadders (a comprehensive career source for emerging professionals.) I noticed they were looking for career professionals in their respective fields to discuss their "top tips for college grads entering the workforce."
Now, if you have read my blog at all (or know me, which most of my readers do) you know how hilarious this Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-90321743336032938232014-12-29T11:54:00.001-08:002014-12-29T16:34:59.933-08:00Just keep swimming!
This year, the Winter Equinox brought not only darkness, but a cold that almost turned into a sinus infection. I'm still sniffling (but thankfully not as much) and slowly introducing swimming back into my training routine (at least on the bike and the run, I can blow my nose and throw all that junk away. The thought of leaving that nastiness to float around in the pool for my swim-mates to Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-83731374803307969672014-12-09T18:36:00.001-08:002014-12-10T04:43:01.568-08:00My Anthem
The pale sunrise dusted the low clouds just as I reached the top of the hill and I realize I'm a runner, still.
My breath is visible and stars still in the darker half of the sky above me, I marveled at the very simple reality that, for the first time in years, I was doing hill sprints. And, unlike the runner I was four years (a lifetime?) ago, I could run them strongly and Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-33557856024928631052014-11-17T11:04:00.002-08:002014-11-17T16:32:10.087-08:00World Championship Time Trial: A Six-Hour Success
"When you want to quit you have to surrender to the moment, and find a calm."
--Mark Allen
Me at the starting line of the 2014 6-12-24 World Championship Time Trial Race in my Great Basin Bicycles skinsuit.
This was supposed to be my race. That was my thought as my bike was propped upside down on its
handlebars and seat, its rear tire removed and the contents of my saddle bag
Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-13365118779259823482014-11-01T15:49:00.001-07:002014-11-01T15:52:47.835-07:00Notes in the (off) SeasonCan you be an athlete if you don't compete?
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I was actually shocked when I realized that I hadn't blogged since the Lake Tahoe Ironman and the 70.3 were cancelled due to bad air conditions nearly two months ago. It's not that I haven' been training-- or writing-- but somehow the blog slipped through the cracks. In the off chance that you follow this craziness, I'm sorry. I really have been Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-56070943955448670142014-09-24T12:15:00.000-07:002014-09-25T05:14:39.427-07:00Tahoe: Not a Race, but a Lesson
Jeff Marrifield after the announcement that he would not be competing in his first Ironman on September 21st, 2014
If you've been reading my blog (even for a little while) you probably know that this year is a big milestone for me in and of itself; or, rather, that every race I undertake this year has a deeper meaning to it than the search for another PR or place. Instead, it has to do with Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-69704107321744108662014-09-07T17:16:00.000-07:002014-09-07T17:26:54.759-07:00And the countdown begins...There is always this moment before a big race when I turn into a nervous wreck. Usually it's about a week or so out when I'm in the process of tapering (so maybe it's a function of all that nervous energy?) which makes me not-such-a-great person to be around. I start wondering how on earth I will cover the distance I plan to race-- and the thought of doing it "fast" seems so incredibly impossibleRebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-89742476157428456692014-08-24T17:05:00.000-07:002014-09-03T12:03:33.989-07:00Lake Tahoe Triathlon: Race ReportI have come to believe that there are certain challenges we are meant to face in life. I'm not a determinist and I'm not saying that this is fate; but I do think there are aspects of our personalities-- especially those areas of curiosity or sometimes fear--which draw us back again and again to a similar challenge, as if to ask: are you ready now?
Or this is what I thought when I woke up at 3:00Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-4324323339616843332014-08-23T16:25:00.001-07:002014-08-23T16:43:17.136-07:00Wish me LUCK! 513 is a lucky number...Well, tomorrow I will race for the first time since my accident. I feel strong and confident-- and maybe a little bit nervous (I always am before races.) The morning will start early (3:30 am or so)-- but wish me luck!
But more than that I really wanted to write about how grateful I am for all the people who are helping me become a real athlete. I wouldn't even be racing if it wasn't for Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-19080457981673248032014-08-20T11:02:00.003-07:002014-08-20T11:08:17.895-07:00Moving Forward: Healed Ribs and New Races
As I turn to breathe the low sun sparkles through the
evergreen trees, turning the water to a prism in the palm of my hand. I can’t
help but call this happiness.
It’s been about six weeks since my accident and I did my
first open water swim in Donner Lake since—oddly—I was hit by a car not too far
from where I swim. There’s hardly anyone in the lake tonight—just me and my
teammate, Martine.&Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-91324577291760997612014-07-09T20:26:00.001-07:002014-07-09T20:27:09.327-07:00What it's like to be hit by a car. . . .I haven't blogging as much lately due to my schedule. Until last Sunday, I trained in the peripheral hours around my 8-5 job which left little time for much of anything aside from eating, sleeping and the occasional shower. But then, well, life gave me an unexpected surprise and that's all different now. Now I cannot train so much and when I'm not training I tend to think a lot-- too much Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8364533069577828873.post-29225830440979674832014-06-30T21:14:00.001-07:002014-07-01T05:19:23.398-07:00Alta Alpina: Black and White with a lot of Gray
Stacy, Me and Rich at the foot of Kingsbury!
I wanted to begin this post with "FUUUUCK" or "I'm sorry I wasn't faster" or, even, "What if I'm not able to...". But really, none quite capture the feeling of the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge; or, rather, how I understand it in this very strange-- but lively-- time in my life. A time when nothing follows a precise definition of itself; a Rebecca A. Ecklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00064018164466401641noreply@blogger.com2