Howard Avery suffered a stroke while training last fall. After a brief hospitalization, he was back at it. The only concession was that he dropped from the 50-miler to the 55K at Antelope Canyon race in mid-March.

He finished the race and is eyeing a flattish, warm-weather 50 or 100-miler in the not-so-distant future.

Avery, who hails from Memphis, will turn 74 in a few days.

I'm trying to make a lot of changes. Some are going better than others, but I haven't given up.

One of the biggest realizations is the need to be grateful for something every day, no matter how crappy the day is.

This is hard for me because I am hard on myself and sometimes set unrealistic expectations.

But I'm getting there.

Liza Howard is one of the kindest, most down-to-earth ultrarunners you will ever meet,. She wins races but is humble about it. She also coaches runners to reach their goals. She also has a couple of other hats she wears. Oh, and she has a family. On March 18, she will tackle Badwater Cape Fear.

Find her at https://www.sharmanultra.com/coaching

Vincent Antunez was sitting on a mountaintop in Afghanistan when the idea for Trail Toes foot creme came to him. The accomplished ultrarunner was deployed there at the time and was devising ways to soothe the tortured soles and toes of fellow runners. At first, people thought it was just for the feet. But, it can go anywhere -- and he means anywhere. The company has evolved from one creme type to three and a fourth is on the way. He has also developed tire-dragging gear, sewn and created travel bags and even gear and cremes for dogs. Oh, and his day job is as a professor at the University of North Texas in Fort Worth. https://www.trailtoes.com/

I spent six hours on Saturday running out .75 miles to a traffic cone that I named Bob and then back to the start over and over again. I was one of the slackers by comparison to some of my friends who spent 100 hours out there.

This madness was the Jackalope Jam, a timed event put on by Trail Racing Over Texas.

I found the experience uplifting, even though my left hip was hurting. (I'm going to start Airrosti therapy tomorrow to address this.) 

It was great seeing friends, old and new, each time you went out and back because we were passing each other.

I liked it so much that I am doing this again next year. "Just" the six-hour version.

Below: Bob.

Yeah, so today is my birthday.

It is marked by a morning spent helping at a road relay race.

Yesterday, I made some new trail friends.

Friday, things got heavy.

I had a therapy appointment on Thursday and the revelations from that weighed on me. That, and my job has become overwhelming.

I had to cancel a celebration with friends because of these things and I am sorry. I hope you understand.

The photo is from eighth grade and relates to my therapy issue.

This past week's icy/wet/cold weather made me move my workouts indoors. I did some indoor cycling, yoga, Pilates and weights. I wasn't entirely idle. I did do a 5-miler on Sunday afternoon that wasn't too bad.

I think it's important to incorporate other practices into our lives because we can get bored with one thing or not see results.

All that said: I'm curious about the types of episodes you prefer:

A. Me, just talking shop

B. Master's Edition

C. Covid Recovery

D. Extraordinary People

E. Paz n Hundo.

You can choose as many as you like. I want to hear from YOU to make this appeal to a variety of folks.

Also, slide over to Apple or Spotify podcasts and give the show a rating. It means a lot. I don't mind constructive criticism; just not personal attacks.

I am proud to say that had P.J. not accepted my invitation to volunteer with me at the J&J Trail Running Reunion in September 2016, he may not have become a part-owner of Tejas Trails. He immediately got it and fit in. Seeing him evolve into a race director has been an exciting journey. And he's only 29! He is one of my favorite people in the world and I couldn't be happier to call him my friend. I know. I'm biased. But listen this interview and you will get it.

Photo: He wanted me to use this one. It's of us volunteering at the Gobble Wobble event for kids in Brownsville in (I think) 2016. 

San Antonians Liza Howard, Thomas Bowling and Chris Russell join me to talk about The Band of Runners. This is a national group that caters to veterans and their surviving family members to empower them through trail running. It's more than this, but it's the simplest explanation I can offer for this group of folks,

www.bandofrunners.org if you are interested.

My DNF at Snowdrop hit me harder than I expected. I think some of it is because I rejected what I'd done in training and just winged it. No wonder I was a mess.

It's a stupid mistake and one I have learned from. That said, I do not plan to do anything beyond a 30K this year. It's fine. I don't need to prove anything. 

I did, however, finish a virtual 10K today in a decent amount of time (faster than usual). It was the "I Beg Your Parton" virtual race that benefits families in need.

I felt strong and good for finishing. Small steps.