In an effort to keep myself accountable and to “build in public” as many do on Twitter, I’m going to share my training and thoughts in my build up to running the 2021 Barkley Marathons.

A thread:

1/ I’m out of shape right now.

That needs to chance quickly as the race is approximately 3 months away. If you don’t know what the Barkley Marathons is, there are some great documentaries on Amazon & YouTube you can search for.
2/ Essentially it’s a 100+ mile ultra marathon held in Frozen Head State Park in TN. It is a 5 identical looped course of unmarked trails and cross country scrambles over steep terrain.

Each loop is over 25 miles in length with +14,000 feet of climb.
3/ Just 15 people have finished the full five loops in the event’s 35 year history. You have 60 hours to finish and no one has finished under 52 hours.

Most years there are no finishers.
4/ I first toed the line at the Barkley in 2014, but I first read about it in 2005 or 2006 just as I was getting into running ultras. I found the website, read this poem and immediately added the event to my bucket list:
5/ In 2007 I made my first pilgrimage to the @hardrock100 in Silverton, CO. I wasn’t in the race. I just joined for course marking, trail work & hung out with the real “Hardrockers”. We’d do a big day on the course then hang at course director Charlie Thorn’s house.
6/ One afternoon, a group was gathered after a day on the trails chatting about Barkley. Every other person in the room had been but me. I felt it was an honor to just hear the stories - a fly on the wall to the great stories of the “Barkers”.

I knew then I was destined to run.
7/ The @hardrock100 was already my dream race and is one of the toughest 100 mile ultra marathons on the planet. It climbs over 33,000 feet in total and the high point is atop the14,058 foot Handies Peak.
8/ It took years to fill out my ultra and thru hiking resume but I was finally in for the 2014 edition. The field is typically 1/2 newbies (virgins) and 1/2 veterans. Basic virgin strategy to learn the course is pick a veteran you think can’t drop you and hang on for dear life.
9/ I chose @bevlikeabbs & @alanabbs which turned out to be a good choice. They had several “Fun Runs” (3 laps of the course) under their belt and knew the course well. It was horrendous rain for close to 24 hours through the first two loops.
10/ It was the hardest thing I had ever done up til that point. I was hooked. I tried to pay attention to “learn the course” but the veterans move quick and don’t wait to play tour guide. The Barkley doesn’t hand hold. Reality sets in quick.
11/ I’m good at navigation. At studying maps. At remembering the lay of the land. By loop 3 I was leading some of the climbs ahead of Alan. I worked alongside Alan and 5 loop finisher @lakewoodhiker to complete a 39h55m fun run - 5 minutes under cutoff.
12/ I’ve gone on to attempt the Barkley four more times. The next year in 2015 I was “last standing” but completed my fourth loop way over the 48 hour cutoff to start loop 5. Last year I finished my 3rd fun run.
13/ The interesting thing about the Barkley is that it evolves. The course I ran back in 2014 is easier than the most recent route. There is more cross county, more quad busting climb and more knee smashing descent now.
14/ That’s what I love about the Barkley. When you finish it, it will be the hardest course there has ever been. And it’s why I’m going back until I get those 5 loops.
15/ With close to 15 loops completed during the race, many more training days in the park and countless hours studying past routes, my biggest factor for success is training.

Let’s go get some.
16/ You can follow my training on @Strava and I will ask share some more here periodically as well as other things I’m doing to prep for the upcoming edition.

https://t.co/4EMPjN7OrI

More from Twitter

A lot of people are trying to figure out what UCP means by putting this biblical quote out into the twitter verse at Christmas.

Many have piped up with commentary and criticized the mix of religion and politics. A convention long held in Canada.


The quote is often repeated at Christmas. “A child is born...” makes reference to the birth of Jesus. Makes sense.

But what does it mean?

Christians (and other religious observers with their religious texts) have made an art form out of interpreting what passages mean.

To those most radically devout (some might say zealously faithful), hidden divine meanings are gleaned from “correctly” reading the bible.

That’s what Dominionists believe. That god himself wrote the bible. Through inspiration of the actual authors, & only they can interpret.

And thus, the “inerrant“ bible serves as a strict road map to save ones soul.

Many devout Christians view the passage as a prophecy made centuries before the birth of Christ. A promise made by god through one of his prophets. Jews interpret the passage very differently.

The Anglican Priest is (obviously) correct about this being supersessionism, and a form of Anti-Semitism.

Troublesome as it is for a Canadian provincial govt to be tweeting out Anti-Semitic propaganda, that’s not the only meaning this passage has for Dominionist Christians.
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: ADT insider threat; Billionaires think VR stops guillotines; Privacy Without Monopoly; and more!

Archived at: https://t.co/nu1HbReiEX

#Pluralistic

1/


This Wednesday, I'm giving a talk called "Technology, Self-Determination, and the Future of the Future" for the Purdue University CERIAS Program:

https://t.co/po5IivZyr4

2/


ADT insider threat: If you build it they will spy.

https://t.co/kJrmtu8L3S

3/


Billionaires think VR stops guillotines: TARP with tasps.

https://t.co/MIKwvsICkr

4/


Privacy Without Monopoly: Podcasting a reading of the latest EFF whitepaper.

https://t.co/R2sl75y4rb

5/

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🌺कैसे बने गरुड़ भगवान विष्णु के वाहन और क्यों दो भागों में फटी होती है नागों की जिह्वा🌺

महर्षि कश्यप की तेरह पत्नियां थीं।लेकिन विनता व कद्रु नामक अपनी दो पत्नियों से उन्हे विशेष लगाव था।एक दिन महर्षि आनन्दभाव में बैठे थे कि तभी वे दोनों उनके समीप आकर उनके पैर दबाने लगी।


प्रसन्न होकर महर्षि कश्यप बोले,"मुझे तुम दोनों से विशेष लगाव है, इसलिए यदि तुम्हारी कोई विशेष इच्छा हो तो मुझे बताओ। मैं उसे अवश्य पूरा करूंगा ।"

कद्रू बोली,"स्वामी! मेरी इच्छा है कि मैं हज़ार पुत्रों की मां बनूंगी।"
विनता बोली,"स्वामी! मुझे केवल एक पुत्र की मां बनना है जो इतना बलवान हो की कद्रू के हज़ार पुत्रों पर भारी पड़े।"
महर्षि बोले,"शीघ्र ही मैं यज्ञ करूंगा और यज्ञ के उपरांत तुम दोनो की इच्छाएं अवश्य पूर्ण होंगी"।


महर्षि ने यज्ञ किया,विनता व कद्रू को आशीर्वाद देकर तपस्या करने चले गए। कुछ काल पश्चात कद्रू ने हज़ार अंडों से काले सर्पों को जन्म दिया व विनता ने एक अंडे से तेजस्वी बालक को जन्म दिया जिसका नाम गरूड़ रखा।जैसे जैसे समय बीता गरुड़ बलवान होता गया और कद्रू के पुत्रों पर भारी पड़ने लगा


परिणामस्वरूप दिन प्रतिदिन कद्रू व विनता के सम्बंधों में कटुता बढ़ती गयी।एकदिन जब दोनो भ्रमण कर रहीं थी तब कद्रू ने दूर खड़े सफेद घोड़े को देख कर कहा,"बता सकती हो विनता!दूर खड़ा वो घोड़ा किस रंग का है?"
विनता बोली,"सफेद रंग का"।
तो कद्रू बोली,"शर्त लगाती हो? इसकी पूँछ तो काली है"।