https://jeffcalvert.net/ Recent content on Jeff Calvert Hugo en-US Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/first-night-run/ Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/first-night-run/ If I get into longer ultras I’ll deal with that. For now, it’s just an interesting sensation… I’ll empathize with those who do go long… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/knowing-vs-visting/ Fri, 31 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/knowing-vs-visting/ It’s a gift, and a mystery that requires imagination, to love a place and feel that it loves you back the way a dog might. A secret, sacred empathy… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/pinhoti-100-2021/ Sun, 21 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/pinhoti-100-2021/ Pinhoti was my 7th 100-miler, and I was hoping it might be my fastest. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/steamtown-marathon-2009/ Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/steamtown-marathon-2009/ The apex of my pre-ultra career, halfway between my 1st marathon and my 7th 100-miler… I remember it mainly for the emotional bewilderment https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/utmb-2017/ Thu, 26 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/utmb-2017/ Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc… in the final 25 miles of this race, I was the best I’ve been so far as a runner… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/boston-marathon-bombing/ Tue, 25 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/boston-marathon-bombing/ We take a breath, realize that we’re still alive, realize that we can stand back up. And then we stagger forward again… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/good-and-bad-people/ Tue, 04 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/good-and-bad-people/ Humans aren’t simple in that way. The balance between the good and bad a person does is irreconcilable — one doesn’t count against the other… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/neighbor-mutilates-trees/ Fri, 30 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/neighbor-mutilates-trees/ He sees no ugliness in what he does. I wanted to cry he proudly pointed to his work and said “they was getting a little high.” https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/time-gratitude-greed/ Fri, 30 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/time-gratitude-greed/ We must find a balance between gratitude and greed. To somehow be both satisfied and searching, to reconcile our gifts against our hunger. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/permission-for-rough-work/ Thu, 29 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/permission-for-rough-work/ Could I take what I just wrote, which is rough but not bad, and put it up on my website? To get to Yes on that, I’d first have to… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-dreams/ Sat, 02 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-dreams/ A pandemic dream… a problem I’ll have when the pandemic is over and it’s “safe” to go back into crowds and exchange breath… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/new-year-same-old-me/ Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/new-year-same-old-me/ I’m not a novice, not unexamined or naive. And while it’s always a good idea to accept input… the real person I should trust is me. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/new-years-eve-goodbye-2020/ Thu, 31 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/new-years-eve-goodbye-2020/ I’ll not argue about the relative merits of this year… I’ll be thankful for what I’ve got, and I’ll face the new year with… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/idea-work/ Sat, 26 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/idea-work/ Idea work begets ideas, creativity can have momentum, and if I’m a conduit for that and I don’t share, then I’m not doing my part… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/nailing-it-perfectionism/ Fri, 25 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/nailing-it-perfectionism/ I’m looking for a black-and-white understanding of something that doesn’t work that way. Perfectionism is not the issue… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/christmas-eve-post/ Thu, 24 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/christmas-eve-post/ You can do this. It isn’t pleasant, it might even be hard, but it will be alright. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/welcome-home-snow/ Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/welcome-home-snow/ I finished 4.5 hours of heavy shoveling and woveling, just to get the smallest passable path cleared… I measured 13 inches… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/in-common-with-kilian/ Thu, 17 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/in-common-with-kilian/ How the experiences of a best-in-the-world mountain athlete and those of a middle-aged mid-pack trail runner overlap.(Pandemic Diary day 294) https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/winter-is-coming/ Wed, 16 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/winter-is-coming/ Put as much of the mundanity of life on autopilot as possible. Reserve your energy, your focus, your enthusiasm, for the good parts https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/post-hellgate-hot-tub/ Tue, 15 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/post-hellgate-hot-tub/ Sparks and ashes… flames dancing… there in the hot water, our hair frozen, our bodies near scalding, looking up at Orion https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/post-hellgate-vacation/ Sun, 13 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/post-hellgate-vacation/ The race is over (we both PR’d)… We’re moved into a cozy little cabin at Canaan, and I’m sitting here by the fireplace… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/against-digital-waldenponding-reading-strategy/ Sat, 05 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/against-digital-waldenponding-reading-strategy/ Unplugging from the flow is not the answer, he says — that will just leave you uneducated and out of touch. Instead,…. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/my-30000th-mile/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/my-30000th-mile/ It was right about here (the last step of my 30,000th recorded mile)… (Pandemic Diary Day 277) https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/thanksgiving/ Thu, 26 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/thanksgiving/ Feeling thankful for what I have… I’ll have a good run, we’ll have a good supper, and life will go on https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/apophenia-queens-gambit-qanon/ Sun, 15 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/apophenia-queens-gambit-qanon/ I can expand my list of possible explanations to include a new one: these people aren’t bad, they’re ill. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/half-not-really-bad-people/ Sun, 08 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/half-not-really-bad-people/ You might find yourself looking at every face and wondering which of them are the “bad people” https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/back-to-normalcy/ Sat, 07 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/back-to-normalcy/ That intensity is dissipating… exhaustion is doing its work… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/victory-and-celebration/ Sat, 07 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/victory-and-celebration/ It feels different in a way I didn’t expect. I feel jubilant… I feel huge relief and exhilaration https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/election-and-c19-positive/ Fri, 06 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/election-and-c19-positive/ Most of the trolls are either silent, or have changed the subject entirely… for the most part I’m not seeing emotions build… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/election-update/ Thu, 05 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/election-update/ Let them have their tantrums… go through their stages of grief… adults will soon be back in charge… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/election-day/ Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/election-day/ It feels like the past 4 years have all been leading directly to this day, and the anticipation (and dread) is almost paralyzing https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/my-running-whys/ Mon, 02 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/my-running-whys/ Wars, separation, pandemics, elections, life, death… I run my way through all of it. Why? https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/politics-caring-deeply/ Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/politics-caring-deeply/ Political alignment… an indicator of their principles and basic morality, their ability to think clearly, and their judgment https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/surreal-beaver-stadium/ Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/surreal-beaver-stadium/ A Penn State night game… but campus was nearly empty, nearly silent, and Beaver stadium glowed like a phantom Flying Dutchman… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/optimism-about-the-youth/ Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/optimism-about-the-youth/ What possible conversation between a zealot of the Old Way and a Zoomer, where that kid becomes convinced they should start… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/home-office/ Thu, 22 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/home-office/ I do some of my best work here https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/agree-to-disagree/ Wed, 21 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/agree-to-disagree/ A Biden family and a Trump family. And they’ve found a way to get along… that’s what we all want, right? https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/no-business-100-2020/ Sun, 18 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/no-business-100-2020/ Hitting the trails of Big South Fork for 100 miles… scenery is sublime, company will be sparse but of the highest caliber… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/should-i-publish-politics/ Mon, 05 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/should-i-publish-politics/ Silence is functionally equivalent to acceptance and consent… But I’m a nice person who doesn’t want to needlessly offend… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/terrible-person-2/ Sat, 03 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/terrible-person-2/ Most of us have at some point in our lives been sucked-in by a shyster, some false prophet who told us what we wanted to hear… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/terrible-person/ Fri, 02 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/terrible-person/ I feel no empathy for this man… pity, but mainly… the wheels of universal justice have finally started turning… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/sunday-nights-at-our-place/ Sun, 27 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/sunday-nights-at-our-place/ Campfire season https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pale-horse-pale-rider/ Sun, 27 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pale-horse-pale-rider/ Fascism is real, George Orwell was a prophet, and maybe the primacy of democracy and human rights isn’t inevitable… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/flagging-worlds-end-ultra/ Fri, 25 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/flagging-worlds-end-ultra/ Apparently they hadn’t put their fire completely out, because it was still burning down in the duff and the roots, spreading… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/trumpsterism-and-football-metaphors/ Wed, 23 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/trumpsterism-and-football-metaphors/ Steelers don’t dance in the end zone, and there’s no name on a Penn State uniform… Allegheny exceptionalism… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/holiday-travel-notes/ Tue, 15 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/holiday-travel-notes/ The complex calculus of risk assessment. What’s the possibility the virus is present? What’s the likelihood you’ll catch it…. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/lessons-from-a-run/ Sun, 13 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/lessons-from-a-run/ Good lessons, much better to have a reminder now… The real trick, though, is to remember the lesson in the first place… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/different-tracks/ Fri, 11 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/different-tracks/ Philosophies and religions are placeholders, pacifiers for us to suck on as we sooth ourselves against the torment… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/proud-of-my-soldiers/ Wed, 09 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/proud-of-my-soldiers/ Not particularly clean or well-mannered, but they could shoot straight, and they showed up even when their bone spurs were sore… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/blue-knob-berlin-trip/ Sun, 06 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/blue-knob-berlin-trip/ The strangeness of wearing a mask when no one else was… some of them didn’t know how to handle that… awkward, surreal https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/daydreaming/ Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/daydreaming/ If the only thing is a fascination with the pattern of plaster on the ceiling or the shapes of the clouds as they drift by… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/mornings-at-our-place/ Sat, 22 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/mornings-at-our-place/ Dog hugs and rip-&-tear https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/second-sunrise-why/ Wed, 19 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/second-sunrise-why/ One of my favorites is: “I want to know who I am at second sunrise”… but it has problems… because I already know https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/query-eat-clean-run-dirty/ Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/query-eat-clean-run-dirty/ My response to Jess’s “what are some of your ideas?” I think I’’’ be able to use most of it… I hope it’s not too precious… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/sunday-family-runday/ Sun, 16 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/sunday-family-runday/ We’ll probably head off into Rothrock… some combination of mild trails and roads, what we can expect at No Business…. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/things-turn-around/ Fri, 14 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/things-turn-around/ It’s true when things are going well, and it’s true when they’re going poorly… an endless cycle of ups and downs… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/serendipity-the-right-book/ Thu, 13 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/serendipity-the-right-book/ A process or a phenomenon reliable enough to depend upon and even trust… maybe that’s the essence of serendipity. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/es100-race-day-message/ Thu, 06 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/es100-race-day-message/ Think about what might have been, but it isn’t good to dwell on that. …it’s far more ultra to assess the situation as it is… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-life/ Mon, 03 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-life/ Pandemic life: no punctuation… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/when-a-run-comes-together/ Sun, 02 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/when-a-run-comes-together/ I did a better job of throttling… more like a veteran ultrarunner than the over-enthusiastic beginner… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/reunion-aar/ Thu, 30 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/reunion-aar/ If it’s hard for us… it’s hard for other people to do it, too… failing doesn’t automatically mean they’re dumb or malicious… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/curing-our-sports-addiction/ Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/curing-our-sports-addiction/ When I mentioned pandemic-produced lack of sports might help people break sports-spectator addictions, a friend was offended. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/doom-scrolling/ Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/doom-scrolling/ This doom-scrolling habit, this hunger for those highly addictive bits of news… in this time of churning…. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/rock-dancing-stone-mountain/ Sun, 26 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/rock-dancing-stone-mountain/ Standing Stone Trail on Stone Mountain with Renee: we spent the afternoon rock dancing. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/reunion/ Fri, 24 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/reunion/ We’ve decided to do our part… I said we’d be there “for the outdoor parts of the day"… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pacing-fkt-mst/ Mon, 20 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pacing-fkt-mst/ Had some miles with Eric Kosek, showing him around our local section of the MST as he works his way north enroute to the FKT… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/rhododendron-blossoms-roaring-run/ Sat, 18 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/rhododendron-blossoms-roaring-run/ Gently swirling blossoms in a cold creek on a hot day (Rothrock State Forest). https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/big-hollow-branches/ Tue, 14 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/big-hollow-branches/ Some quality time with the fearless young bucks. And who says Strava isn’t motivational? https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/emotional/ Sun, 12 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/emotional/ It’s a sign of mental and emotional and spiritual health… the empathy to feel that way, the confidence to allow it to flow… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/taxes-keep-me-sharp/ Fri, 10 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/taxes-keep-me-sharp/ It could be good for my mind to face this tax puzzle each year, that it keeps me sharp, that it’s a benefit to face puzzles… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/ridge-and-jungle/ Sun, 05 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/ridge-and-jungle/ Tussey Ridge/John Wert loop with Renee & Scotia (at Scotia’s warm-weather pace) in Rothrock State Forest https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/little-flat-laurel/ Sun, 28 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/little-flat-laurel/ Yeah, early summer is a tough time here in central PA — so drab (family run in Rothrock State Forest) https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/saturday-night-at-our-house/ Sat, 27 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/saturday-night-at-our-house/ Saturday night at our house (Scrabble) https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/safeish-dinner-out/ Sun, 21 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/safeish-dinner-out/ A nice visit with Mom and Dad this afternoon at Jean Bonnet Tavern… an outside table on a beautiful sunny breezy day… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/inspirational-reading/ Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/inspirational-reading/ Deep clear thought, presented in a clear and concise way… innately beautiful and moving… a playground I’d like to play in… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/es100-cancellation/ Wed, 10 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/es100-cancellation/ Eastern States has had almost my entire attention, and more specifically, the Eastern States cancellation message… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/1000-days/ Fri, 05 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/1000-days/ 1,000th day in a row… I took about a week off after I finished UTMB in 2017, and haven’t missed a day since. (It’s a start…) https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/news-and-fantasies/ Wed, 03 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/news-and-fantasies/ Secretly a little bit thrilled by the idea that there’s going to be more to see, more outrage, more violence… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/build-something/ Tue, 02 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/build-something/ When it’s all falling apart… build something… take some idea from your mind and turn it into a manifest physical creation… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/fewer-but-better/ Tue, 02 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/fewer-but-better/ Starter list of principles towards that idea of Fewer but Better: Longer is better than shorter. Big talk is better than small… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/let-me-think-about-it/ Tue, 02 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/let-me-think-about-it/ I don’t reliably know what I think about a thing until I’ve run with it and then written about, and I won’t trust myself until I do… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/protests-vicarious/ Sun, 31 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/protests-vicarious/ Sad truth… no matter how disturbed I feel about racism, this is notional, beyond the realm and reach of my daily life… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/no-mow-may/ Mon, 25 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/no-mow-may/ I never get tired of the view from my deck (BTW, it’s No-mow May) And… It was a cottony day out on the Scotia trails (aspen seeds). https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/how-many-weeks/ Tue, 19 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/how-many-weeks/ I could view each week as one 5,000th of my life. Or I could view each week as one 2,000th of the time I have left… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/obligate-symbionts/ Tue, 19 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/obligate-symbionts/ We’re mutually obligated symbionts… not the same species, eternally reliant upon each other, and eternally trying to understand. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/spring-wins/ Wed, 13 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/spring-wins/ The gameland is glowing (and buzzing) https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/polar-vortex/ Sat, 09 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/polar-vortex/ It’s almost the middle of May, and I ran in a snowstorm last evening. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/adversity-runs-have-i-graduated/ Fri, 08 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/adversity-runs-have-i-graduated/ Is it permanent, a non-perishable status? Have I graduated, do I no longer need a monthly Adversity Run…? https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/squandering-the-pause/ Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/squandering-the-pause/ This pandemic is the closest thing to a pause button I’m ever likely to get, and it feels like I’m squandering it. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/gettis-ridge-road/ Mon, 27 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/gettis-ridge-road/ Another family run in Rothrock State Forest https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/scotia-and-chipmunk/ Thu, 23 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/scotia-and-chipmunk/ Does the chippy know? https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/tow-hill-ore-pits/ Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/tow-hill-ore-pits/ Exploring the Tow Hill ore pits in Scotia gamelands with Renee and Scotia https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/sleeping-through-apocalypse/ Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/sleeping-through-apocalypse/ Most people have chosen a rational approach… But there are other forces at work, and they’re not rational or benevolent https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/ideas-options-obligations/ Sat, 18 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/ideas-options-obligations/ Infinite ideas, carefully selected options, few obligations, most of those owed to yourself… the recipe for a good life… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/differences-without-labels/ Fri, 17 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/differences-without-labels/ That ideal state where you no longer even notice the differences, no longer think the adjectives… apply no label but “friend” https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/snowy-toftrees-run/ Fri, 17 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/snowy-toftrees-run/ Green and white run in the Toftrees game lands https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/margins/ Thu, 16 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/margins/ The resiliency that comes with it is worth sacrificing for… Most of us don’t have to live on the razor’s edge, we only choose to https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/down-action/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/down-action/ Action begins movement… begets engagement… leads to refinements… so it can become the right movement, the right action… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/discord-in-the-air/ Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/discord-in-the-air/ Discord in the air tonight… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/roadrunning-with-vivaldi/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/roadrunning-with-vivaldi/ Roadrunning with Vivaldi — an accident that made this very ordinary run feel both epic and elegant. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/stress-and-exposure/ Mon, 06 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/stress-and-exposure/ Intense business stress, and now waiting to see if her parents will make it through the waiting period after their exposure… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/small-victories/ Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/small-victories/ Watch for and grab small victories when we find them (even if they’re only statistical)… Today’s little trot around… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/death-masks-cactus/ Sat, 04 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/death-masks-cactus/ We are officially advised/requested to wear masks… This has led to arguments about the wisdom of this on Facebook… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/not-all-darkness/ Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/not-all-darkness/ A flash rain storm, and now the sun has come out and the bare branches are glistening as if they were coated with ice. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/critical-pieces/ Tue, 31 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/critical-pieces/ We’re all in some version of this, and most are in multiple versions at the same time. How is this going to turn out? https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/es100-board-meeting/ Mon, 30 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/es100-board-meeting/ We set July 1st as our decision date… Between now and then we’ll keep planning for the full event… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/watchful-waiting/ Sat, 28 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/watchful-waiting/ Anxiety about who among our family and friends will get this disease, what our inevitable personal encounters will be like… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pop-the-silo/ Fri, 27 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pop-the-silo/ That old Nazareth song is stuck in my head, even though it doesn’t exactly fit with our current tiny apocalypse… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/addicted-to-pandemic/ Tue, 24 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/addicted-to-pandemic/ A fascinating thing to watch, fascinating like a train wreck, fascinating like Westworld or Game of Thrones… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/all-good-here/ Tue, 24 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/all-good-here/ Fresh Otto’s beer, from the Trail Keg to my Canyonman glass — all good here. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-opportunity/ Mon, 23 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-opportunity/ The opportunity for a long term plan that isn’t interrupted by tapers or recoveries or race efforts… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/escapism/ Sun, 22 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/escapism/ Escapism of the highest order — Calvin and Hobbes https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-generation/ Sat, 21 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-generation/ This is the closing event-of-formation for Gen Z https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-yes-but/ Sat, 21 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-yes-but/ Get over it, don’t let it dominate your life, stop compulsively checking… stop saturating your mind with it https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/long-haul-pandemic/ Fri, 20 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/long-haul-pandemic/ Be prepared for all of it and try to be flexible and accepting of the fact that flexibility is the only real way to be prepared. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-ideas/ Fri, 20 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-ideas/ What if we took the climate crisis as seriously as we’re taking this pandemic? Maybe this is a model for that. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-as-a-gift/ Thu, 19 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pandemic-as-a-gift/ The only part we control is our response. I choose to frame it for myself as a great gift, this slowing of everything… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/believing-in-pandemic/ Wed, 18 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/believing-in-pandemic/ It’s a necessary suspension of disbelief, it must be widespread, ideally universal, and it’s hard to achieve that… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/what-happens-next/ Wed, 18 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/what-happens-next/ This insatiable need to read more and more about it, an immense curiosity about What Happens Next https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/get-back-to-work/ Mon, 16 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/get-back-to-work/ There’s nothing I’m going to read in the next half-day that will make a difference or change the way I should use this day… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/start-a-pandemic-diary/ Fri, 13 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/start-a-pandemic-diary/ When we talk with our grandchildren about this pandemic, the observations we capture now, in real time, witll be the most valid… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pushing-our-luck/ Thu, 12 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/pushing-our-luck/ One last weekend before we go into crisis mode where we hunker down at home and do absolutely no unnecessary travel… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/overreacting-but-prepping/ Wed, 11 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/overreacting-but-prepping/ A wake-up call for some, a dry run or dress rehearsal for others, a good trigger for all of us to figure out how we handle things… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/late-night-writing/ Sun, 08 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/late-night-writing/ That knowledge that the words in my head were potentially good ones, and the certainty they’d not persist… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/scotia-with-scotia/ Sun, 08 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/scotia-with-scotia/ We’ll go to Scotia gamelands and wander around there, maybe on some of those big grassy highways. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/this-coronavirus-thing/ Fri, 28 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/pandemic-diary/this-coronavirus-thing/ Now there’s this coronavirus thing threatening to spread across the land, killing people in its wake… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/photographing-barkley-2016/ Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/photographing-barkley-2016/ I came home from Barkley with more photos than Ultrarunning could publish… Here’s a sampling, and observations from an event I found profoundly moving. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/acl-rehab-without-surgery/ Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/acl-rehab-without-surgery/ An update on my running progress 6 months after I snapped my ACL and opted for physical therapy instead of surgical repair. https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/soccer-faces/ Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/soccer-faces/ I look for people at their best, in moments of earnest engagement when they are so involved in doing something they love that they forget to pose… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/christmas-letter-from-iraq-2003/ Sat, 27 Dec 2003 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/christmas-letter-from-iraq-2003/ You may not find the usual levity in this year’s letter, but maybe I can bring it around to something positive by the end. The theme is paradox… https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/running-start-wonder/ Mon, 22 Mar 1999 00:00:00 +0000 https://jeffcalvert.net/writing/rushofitall/running-start-wonder/ I crave the solitude of running alone, but 2 years ago I became a father, and it became scarce. But also less important — my son is now my running partner.