I spent my New Year running (and walking) for six hours from midnight to 6 am for a good cause. It also provided an avenue to mend a fence or two, as well as provide some much-needed confidence. I also discuss my upcoming races, including one where I will travel to Wisconsin, of all places!

I had some unusual mental demons haunting me at a race on Saturday: a couple of nightmares in the days before. That, coupled with being the caboose and a few other things had me battling the DNF Fairy the entire time.

I am, admittedly, in a bit of a slump. I'm working on how to break out of it. I guess this is all part of the deal with running.

Since it's That Time of Year, I wanted to share with you some of my suggestions for gear for the runner in your life. Or, maybe yourself!

You are an experiment of one, so take my suggestions as just that.

If you have no ideas, a gift certificate to a local running store is always a winner. :)

Photo features Rabbit tank top and shorts and an Amphipod handheld bottle.

I had an epiphany near the end of a run on Saturday. It led to facing past demons and the baggage that comes with it.

It may trigger some with eating disorders, so be warned.

This one deals with self-worth, self-image, a borderline eating disorder and depression.

It is also about not blaming people for the hand you're dealt. Ultimately, this is uplifting. I am good.

It was hard finding a photo for this episode but I chose this sunflower field that I shot in Garciasville, Texas a couple of years ago. Despite the darkness, there is hope. And also, I'm kind of like the main sunflower in that I stand apart from the rest of the field.

It's easy to underestimate a race or training run when things have gone well for a long while.

Well, I learned that struggles can sneak up on you after a good streak. Pushing through and reminding yourself that things won't always be there tomorrow are important lessons.

Photo of me and Judith on the rock dome at Reveille Peak Ranch.

Two super-cool things happened on Saturday: I got to run my favorite trail race of the year, and I caught up with some good friends from the Rio Grande Valley. This is kind of an homage to the RGV, the place where I first discovered trail running.

I also talk about a race I did over the summer in the RGV, which is held at my favorite running spot.

Oh, and a shout-out to a guy from Houston named Shawn, who recognized my voice as we waited to pick up our race bibs yesterday. That was one of the coolest things . in recent memory.

In the photo: Luly, Sandra, yers trooly, Hugo, Mary and Gabe. Love you guys!

This is episode 20!!!! On Sunday, I rang a cowbell, filled up water bottles, made some sort of crappy peanut butter, banana and honey tortillas, all while encouraging the folks doing the Hill Country Trivium. It's a road race put on by Brad and Nyla Quinn, of Tejas Trails, but it's a hilly challenge. Two college seniors stole our hearts as they claimed their first marathon, accidental ultra and DFL..

I went back into the time machine and recalled my sort-of-similar experience at the Heroes 25K race in Brownsville, where you battle the heat as much as the distance.

Finally, I ramble on about my upcoming 25K this weekend at Wild Hare, my FAVORITE race of the year. It starts and ends in a horse barn on a ranch outside of LaGrange.

Photo: The Rio Grande Valley Trailrunners paying respect to our military wearing our Team RWB shirts, circa May 2015.

This is a podcast about a podcast. Hence the Russian nesting dolls reference. I got to watch the recording of my favorite running podcast, "Ten Junk Miles," and meet its host, Scott Kummer. He shared a little podcasting intel at the end of the evening. I tried not to fangirl.

Inexplicably, I manage to work in a reference to my new favorite artist, Orville Peck, whom I also met a month ago. Peck has an incredible voice and his debut album, "Pony," is so listenable that I haven't yet tired of it. 

Anyway, so yeah, that's about it for this episode. Lots of fun.

Saturday's race was full of surprises: a race director dressed as a taco, a guy in a taco truck on the trails and pretty much everyone getting lost. It was the inaugural El Taco Loco race, held just south of San Antonio. I missed a section and made up for it by backtracking before crossing the finish line. Good race and experience.

Part two is about a themed event: the inaugural Die Hard on the Powerlines. This guy came up with the crazy idea that we could choose 6, 12 or 24 hours to run/hike San Antonio's famed Powerlines route as many times as we could. No finisher's medals or T-shirts, nor really any official timekeepers. But it still counted as a pretty epic day.

*There are one or two curse words in this, so I labeled it as explicit.

Ah, the question for the ages: which do you prefer, trail or road?

Me, I think the answer is pretty clear. I'd rather be out in the woods than on a city street most any day. There are benefits to both and each is to be respected. I just ran a trail race with a bunch of predominantly road runners. I thought for sure I would get them on the gnarly sections. Instead, it was the other way around. They *ran* the whole dang thing. We trail runners occasionally hike through tough sections and uphill. Now I'm envious of those who can run well on both.

The photo is from my best of both worlds place: Pancho Villa, this 5-mile out-and-back outside of Rio Grande City. It's a road, but it's more of a caliche and rock trail out in the countryside of Way South Texas.