Every December, during that week between Christmas and New Years when the present feels delicately suspended between the past and the future and time seems to briefly slow, I sit …
Author
Jeff Kozak
Jeff Kozak
Jeff Kozak discovered the mountains and trails through childhood summers spent at the family cabin in California’s Eastern Sierra. A passion for distance running ignited on the cross country courses and tracks of high school in Ohio. After the college years, also known as a directionless tour of the sciences culminating with a Psychology degree, the twin loves of the alpine and running quickly merged at the 1997 Baldy Peaks 50K, the first of nearly 100 ultras over the past two decades. The competitive fire still burns, but is increasingly tempered by adventure running, fastpacking and giving back to the sport that has given so much. He lives in the rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada in Bishop, CA with his girlfriend, Margo, and can be reached at [email protected].
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A pair of strategically deployed collapsible carbon fiber poles might just save your next “A” goal and place you in a pole position you never dreamed of.
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Jeff Kozak pays tribute to well-known and respected ultra runner Chris Scott, who was known for his wonderfully crazy races and who touched the hearts of many in the sport. …
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Adventure running needs no definition and, unless you are going for a fastest known time (FKT), it has no rules. In a world suffocating under the weight of rules and …
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I’ve got four three-ring binders that sit on my bookshelf, each representing one year of high school cross country—the arena where my lifelong love for running was ignited. The fact …
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The dream goal was to inspire all 25 kids at the inaugural High Sierra Running Camp. The tiered, more realistic goal was to inspire a few… as I had been …
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As ultrarunners, naturally we love to run. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm for the primal act of running, and its Dr. Feelgood of Fitness-endorphin-effect is often not tempered enough by sensibility. More …
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Seeing some of the Golden Hour finishers I had assisted in some small way successfully complete their journey to Auburn was a pinnacle moment for me after two decades of …
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A cornerstone of being in the zone is freedom from expectations. Expectations are projections into the future, based on the past. They are not in the moment. The present moment …
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For those of you, like myself, who are potentially facing triple digit temperatures to match a triple digit race distance, here are some things to consider to keep your ‘A’ …
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I began mentally rewriting song lyrics as a way to pass the miles, entertain myself, and poke a little fun at the absurdities and idiosyncrasies I see within the subculture …
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To remember the past is to respect it. Even the most independent of us in this most independent-at-times of sports, do not live in a bubble of rugged individualism feeding …
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In the modern world, decisions on what to eat and drink and when, can be as confusing as they are convenient.
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Was it really possible in the modern world to use the feet more than fossil fuels to get around? It sounded like a life adventure worthy of an attempt and, …
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“When you backpack the JMT you explore the outer world; when you FKT the JMT you explore your inner world.” Going as fast as I could on the JMT, as …
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Feeling a lack of motivation? Feeling uninspired? Listen to your heart. It is the wellspring of emotional engagement, and it will tell you what to do.
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The urban dictionary defines “more cowbell” as ‘an extra quality that will make something or someone better.’ My raceday cowbell was patience, and I needed a lot more of it, …
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I have known Krissy, Hal, and numerous others through the sport, for many years, but the totality of our interactions would likely barely rate ‘acquaintance’ status in most other walks …
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The line of ultrarunners that have come forward over the years to speak openly about their battles with depression is long and illustrious; and that darkness is often confusing when …
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We’re all essentially on David Byrne’s road to nowhere, often wondering, ‘How did I get here?’ A choose your own adventure novel where we’re constantly being forced to decide which …