About halfway through the summer heat in New York City and halfway through fall marathon training blocks is when the grind gets real. Volume starts to creep up, long runs a bit longer, a bit harder and endless hours in the heat and humidity - teetering that line of pushing yourself and pulling back just trying to make it to another day in one piece. I train alone 99% of the time but during marathon blocks when training output is at an all time high, it’s nice to share some miles with others to keep things fresh.

So when my good friend, Joe Greer, invited me down to Franklin, Tennessee alongside our other good friend and shooter, Colden Rand, to train for a few days - it was a no brainer. I first met Joe on the bus to the start line at CIM, so it only made sense for us to reconnect while both training for Chicago a few months later. This was an opportunity to spend 3 days together to push ourselves physically (running over 50 miles in 3 days) and showcasing a bit of what that process can look like. Early morning runs before the heat came out, cold plunges and sauna to recover, exploring nature trails at sunset and in the midst of all the training had some laughs and made memories I'll always cherish.

I’m all for a routine and keeping life pretty simple when the going gets tough, but there’s something to say about creating new time and space to mix things up. I left Tennessee feeling strong, focused, and inspired ahead of the next 8 weeks until race day.