Stay Strong - Run Long

My life, as with most people, can be defined by a series of ups and downs. I've silently battled depression, I battled weight problems, I've battled against my own insecurities. The thing that I've learned though about myself is that I never stop battling. I came in to the 2014 Equalizer Endurance Run with a lot of things going against me. I've been incredibly stressed at work, I have a lot of "stuff" that takes up a lot of my time, I was under trained, I was slightly injured (weird hip thing), and I was not feeling the greatest. Not only these pressures, but I had signed up for this race as my first race as a member of the UVU Racing team and wanted to show the amazing team of athletes around the world what I could do. Tons of pressure coming into a race that for the first time in a long time I felt ill prepared to run. Wonderful....... The lead up to the race was like most. I was on a 2 week "taper", but when I say "taper" I basi

Coming up in a few short weeks I will have accomplished something that I never thought I would be able to say that I have done. At the end of August 2004 I began a journey. A journey that has taken me on some amazing highs and some tremendous lows. A journey that has been filled with tears of happiness and tears of sorrow. A journey that has shown the world that with a little hard work and determination (and a whole lot of stupidity) you truly CAN change yourself. Along this journey I have learned how much the human body and mind is capable of. I have been blessed with health, happiness, humility, hunger, pains and purpose. The past 10 years have brought me out of the pits of depression and destruction to a life filled with purpose and passion. The last 10 years has seen my marriage soar. The journey has brought me 3 of the most beautiful, talented, creative, adventurous little girls. This journey has given me the opportunity to be a dad to them and show them that no matter wha

It's not something that is a secret. When I run, I think...a lot. A couple of days ago Mrs Messenjah gave me permission to head out on a 20 mile run after church. When I say, she "gave me permission" it's because having a one month old and 2 rambunctious other children can be taxing on her. I do try to help as much as I can with cooking, "light" cleaning, laundry, yard work, baths, showers, playing games, reading, etc...normal parenting duties. There are sometimes though that I just need to get away. I am admittedly a very high stress person and if I haven't run in a few days, the claws tend to come out over incredibly trivial things. This run, I knew, wasn't going to be like many others this year. The forecast called for highs in the mid to upper 90's, with 85-90% humidity and wind gusts of up to 20mph. Typically your normal runner will see a forecast like that and scoff at going outside, especially during the hottest part of the day, but as

Ultrarunning isn't just for people who live in California or Colorado. Ultrarunning isn't just for people who can run a 5 minute mile for 100 miles Ultrarunning isn't just for people that run 99% of their runs on dirt Ultrarunning isn't just something that the incredibly fit do Ultrarunning isn't just for the super elite athletes of the world. Ultrarunning is waking up at 4:00 a.m. to run back country roads Ultrarunning is running two-a-days around your kids soccer, birthday parties and family time Ultrarunning is doing hill repeats on a treadmill because the nearest mountain is 100's of miles away Ultrarunning is running when it's 100 F or -30 F Ultrarunning is... You vs The Elements You vs Time You vs Geography You vs You

Many times on this blog and in life I've said that "weight loss is a journey" and I am truly a firm believer in that. My journey has taken me on a 10 year road to reverse 5 years of damage. This journey has brought some bumpy roads, some blown tires and some winding roads but I feel that with everything that I've been able to accomplish so far there is a flat section of road ahead of me. Getting fat was fun. Late night pizza. Closing the bar down and stumbling home. Food challenges (have I ever mentioned that I set a record at IHOP for most pancakes eaten at one time at 25). Drinking a case of beer and then some. I would literally eat anything that was put in front of me. Food made me feel good. Food was the thing that what I was known for. I loved my wife's maternal grandmother and always will. She was a great cook and was a wonderfully caring woman. She would ALWAYS make my favorite dishes for every gathering. People remembered those things that I loved an

Many of you know that I am what is called an "Ultra Runner". I love the thrill of long distance races. I put the term "ultra runner" in quotes primarily because I will be the first to admit that not everything that I do when I am out for a run is "running". I do a fair amount of walking in races and in training which, contrary to road races, is strongly encouraged. One of things that people always ask me when I say that I am training for 50-100 mile races is "where do you find the time?" Sometimes I wonder myself where I find the time to be a husband, a father, an employee, a coach, a member of a board, a friend and still be able to run 75-80 miles per week while doing strength training and some really funny yoga. And honestly, I'm not real sure.  I do a fair amount of my runs VERY early in the morning or VERY late at night. I will wake up at 3:30am and try to get 12-13 miles in before my kids wake up for school and/or get out the door a

Anyone who truly knows me knows that I don't quit easily. Example...I once worked as a telemarketer for 5 years!!!! Yes...5 years getting hung up on, called every name in the book, screamed at and told that I was the lowest form of human life ever created. But as much as that job sucked, I was very good at it. I also think that it was one of those experiences in my life that taught me, no matter how rough and tough life is, it does in fact get better with time. I definitely had a reminder of that this past weekend. For those who don't know, Mrs Messenjah is having a baby coming up in a few short months and I couldn't be more thrilled. I think that I am more nervously excited for this child than the other 2. With Mini Me I went into the baby having confidence because Lil Red was only 2 when she was born. When Lil Red was born I went into it confident and a head full of steam. Kids aren't that hard to deal with. I've worked with kids before. "I got this".

  Photo from eHealth Critic I have always been very open and honest about myself. I have brought to light some of my deepest, darkest problems through writing this little blog. I've talked about my addiction to food, my weight problems, yada yada yada and it has really helped me with perspective and healing. I'll be the first one to admit that I am a "food aholic" but recently I had a wonderful conversation with one of my very good friends who also deals with the same issues and it left me wondering, what is really driving me? What is my main goal with weight loss and running ultras? At first my motivation was to look "sexy". I'll admit it. I wanted to loose weight to look like a professional athlete with six pack abs and be able to walk around with no shirt on. There it is. There is the truth. But when I realized that my genetic makeup would never allow me the ability to do that I did it for people to look at me like I was a badass. Yep, when I

A full life can not be measured by the stuff you accumulate over your short time on this earth, but can only be measured by the experiences that you encounter during that time. ***This was written nearly 4 months ago and never published. I am finally happy enough with it to publish*** This past weekend was one of those that I won't soon forget. About 10 weeks ago my outlook on life indirectly took a detour that I was truly not expecting. It was a truly normal day. I was at work and was checking Facebook when I saw this from one of our good friends... What???? Blank Children's Hospital.......Leukemia.....CANCER????? What???? When you see this you go through an instant state of panic, hysteria, questioning. Everything. Do I call? Do I text? Do I leave them alone? These people are your oldest friends, call. But, what if they don't want you to call? What are you doing? You need to text them. You need to figure out what is going on. A few days went by and numero