Gluten Free Pizza and Doodles; Asthma and Endurance Sport; Double Infinity!, and some personal news…
Good morning, crew! Welcome to week two! It feels like I just hit publish for the first time yesterday. Lets start somewhere obvious: there are 52 weeks in a year, which means over a summer, there’s just 12 weeks (or 24 full weekend days) to play. Perspective like that can be either motivating or slightly sad. I often revisit Paul Graham’s “Life is Short” to reset my mental, seeing time as freedom and liberation instead of scarcity.
After my 50-miler earlier this month, wrote about it here, I tried to take two weeks off from running (four of those aforementioned precious “play days”). Running isn’t just fitness for me; it’s meditative, social, and where the uncontrollables of life disappear. I struggled (am struggling) in recovery. Below on EIB dives into the physiological challenges I have been battling. Thankfully surf, a hobby which orbits a sole planet called Play, is accessible and at sea level - been a lot of splish splash lately.
Big Personal News! I’m moving to Australia! I’ll be departing Truckee this December. A place I have been so fortunate to call home for four years - longest I’ve ever lived anywhere. This community and space has shaped so much of my personal growth and provided doors to realms of life I had never thought I would be exposed to. It has given so much. It’s where my partner and I found each other - fateful two spirits pulled by the Sierra Nevada gravity. I will be shipping across the sea for 12 months in Brisbane, AU as she starts her second year of Med School (M2) there! Sharing our journey’s together, stepping through the door to a novel culture and community, and taking a break from corporate life are all so exciting. Oh, and ya, my camera is coming with!
With 10 weeks left in Truckee, it feels overwhelmingly bittersweet. I find myself more and more reflective, sometimes wishing I’d taken even more advantage of this chapter of life: the community love, trail running as a character trait, and the access to “you can just do things” mentality. I have become more reflective of this year’s treats: tracing the alps - Haute Route (might write about this sometime!), surf and discovering scuba in Indonesia, healing and relationship with slow-times, focus on performance, and leaning into photography in ways I never thought I could. I’m gearing up for the next year with intention, excited to carry forward what matters most. Cheers!
Lets dive in!
The Calories
Big Thief gave the world Incomprehensible on June 3 this summer - the lead single teasing their Double Infinity album which released earlier this month. Now touring on this album, they swung through Sacramento’s new venue Channel 24 early in their roadtrip (neat! also hosted Trampled by Turtles, Polo and Pan, and more). The Brooklyn band’s 6th album remains refreshingly authentic to their soul (eyes Mumford and Sons…) - it’s been on repeat for me this month. Go check Los Angeles !
Collaborations I would like to see more of - Tahoe’s Jiffy’s Pizza and Lucas Beaufort. I’ve been following Lucas on IG for a while now, inspired by his doodles and their playful applications. His doodles are pleasantly simple, childishly mosaic, mostly black and white, raw and impromptu - with a paint pen. Jiffy’s is a humble, sanctuary-like, pizza Tahoe lake-front joint that smells of Slush Magazine and ‘shredtastic rail wax aroma. Artists are creatives, duh, and Lucas’s product is uniquely mobile. Lucas is not from Tahoe, not even the states, dude’s French! The collaboration was broadcast mostly on Instagram while he must have been traveling (?), which is how I found out and brought my splitboard to get some fresh paint. FYI Jiffy’s Pizza has the best gluten-free pizza in Tahoe. Lets quickly examine the value propositions here. Jiffy’s Pizza embraces an aligned culture, capturing adjacent consumer groups, and acquires foot traffic and sales by supporting the marketing event space and (presumably) paying for Lucas’s time. Lucas, who has nearly 90k IG followers across the globe, is able to imprint (literally) his aesthetic and brand in a severely targeted and intimate space - I will forever have his doodles on my splitboard; on people’s skateboards, jackets, and shoes. I can’t not visualize the Culture Bomb animation from the Civilization PC games - what good marketing ought to be. Lets amplify the creatives of this world. Can we get a Proof Lab x Hannah Eddy collab please!
The Roadless Rule was first enacted in 2001 - it protected over 58 million acres of national forest from logging, road construction, and development, preserving sensitive ecosystems, clean water, and recreational spaces for us forever. Repealing it exposes raw nature to threatening wildlife, increasing wildfire risk, and degrading public lands that belong to everyone. Public comment has been overwhelmingly against the repeal (shocker - see Truckee Tahoe True against Alterra for human’s preference to earth’s preservation), showing that communities across the country value these protections. Yet, moving forward despite such clear opposition highlights another example of asymmetrical representation factions of this country blindly follow - this administration has played a grand smoke and mirror show. The Roadless Rule isn’t just regulation - it’s a commitment to the long-term health of our forests and the people who depend on them.
Pythagorean Triple Square Day - recently 9/16/25 - is one of those fun, rare days where math and the calendar line up in a cool way. On this day, the numbers in the date form a perfect Pythagorean triple when squared, which is just a fancy way of saying the numbers play nicely together. It’s a little reminder that patterns are everywhere, if you take a moment to notice them. Celebrating it is just a small, playful way to appreciate how math pops up in everyday life. Honestly, it’s the kind of thing that makes me chuckle.
Endurance Induced Bronchoconstriction (EIB) is a temporary narrowing of the airways during intense exercise over a long period of time - maybe similar to asthma (more initial/acute). I raced the Superior 50 mile earlier this month - succumbing to these symptoms at mile 44, after 7+ hours of running - a novel frightening sensation for me. It was scary - a spirometer after the race recorded only 1 liter of inhalation capacity (vs 5-6 liters baseline). It’s surprisingly common, affecting as much as 30–50% of elite endurance athletes. Ultra runners may be susceptible due to prolonged, high-intensity breathing - northern Minnesota in September provided moist, brisk air and cold conditions - which irritates the airways and triggers inflammation. Cofactors of these symptoms are dehydration and moisture in the lungs. The recovery period (going on 3 weeks now) has been painfully patient - running is slow, breathing labored, and legs are empty. Listen to your body, rest.
Workout of the Week
Tempo and speed sessions are when I feel simultaneously alive and vulnerable. Tempo sessions allow yourself to lean into discomfort and the pain of growth in controlled manners with a comfortable-enough time period.
The Purpose: Sharpen race pace fitness and leg turnover while keeping the session compact and controlled! My goal was to stimulate both 5k and 10k length systems without leaving the session totally inoculated or beat up.
The Venue: Track (flat) or road!
The Workout: i. A proper, painfully slow, warm-up (15-20min) ii. Typical track dynamic stretch and calisthenics. iii. 3 x 2min at 5k race pace (each with recovery float/jog) iv. 3 x 4 min at 10k race pace (each with recovery float/jog) v. 3 x 2min at 5k race pace (each with recovery float/jog) vi. Stretch and painfully slow cool down (15+ min walk for me to end too).
The Sensation: Lungs are fully throttle! Legs feel light and fast, you feel exhausted but not that trail vert fatiguing exhausted.