Thoughts about…

Revisiting an Old Passion

During the summer of 2001, I was training to run the Twin Cities Marathon. This was my second time participating in it, and it was the last marathon that I’ve run to-date. I’m not ruling them out for good, but I’ve yet to feel compelled to run another after having already completed two of them.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I often like to participate in bigger events twice. The reason for this is that I want to try certain immersive activities at least once in my life, but then I want to see if I can improve on my performance with a second attempt. I’ve always found the second time around to be more rewarding because I already have an idea as to what to expect. What I mean by this is that rather than being constantly bedazzled by the “newness” of a thing, like a kid visiting Disneyland for the first time, I can be more present throughout the experience thanks to my general familiarity with the process of the activity in question.

Angora Burn Area on June 1, 2025. © Jared Manninen

So, in 2001, I was hoping to progress beyond my 1998 run time of 3:48. Although that’s a far cry from any sort of land speed record, it’s still a good result for a hobbyist runner and a first-time marathoner. My goal, then, was to aim for a finish time somewhere closer to the three and a half hour mark. I knew that shaving off fifteen minutes of my total time would be challenging, but I had experience on my side this time. That, and my lifestyle was vastly different by 2001. For example, I was no longer a college student and bartender. Need I say more?

Instead, I was a professional massage therapist with more time for training and access to better recovery methods. Basically, I was friends with other therapists who specialized in different types of bodywork. And we would all trade services with each other routinely.

So I spent all summer running consistently, dialing in my breathwork both on the road and while recovering through focused breathing and meditation, and routinely receiving massages. When I wasn’t working or training, I was writing and painting. I even read the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy that summer, in anticipation of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring that coming December.

Overall, life was great and I was very hopeful for a faster run time in the marathon.

Spooner Lake on June 2, 2025. © Jared Manninen

Now, I’m going to just cut to the chase and disclose that the second marathon ultimately did not go as planned. Somewhere around the 10-mile mark, during the race, I strained my right hip flexor to the point where it became difficult to move my leg forward. How could that happen after executing such a great training cycle? I can’t say for sure. However, I’ve always felt that this hiccup was more of a psychological response to a relationship that I was in at the time rather than an actual injury.

I wanted to share this early on because I don’t want you thinking that the grand reveal at the end is going to be that I ran so well that I qualified for the Boston Marathon, or whatever. Because that’s definitely not what happened! In fact, I ran a full hour slower compared to my effort in 1998. It was all very disappointing and demoralizing to say the least. And I can’t help but think that this is the main reason that I don’t really want to run another marathon – haha!

But that’s life, right? No matter the setup, the results are never 100% guaranteed. So we just have to come to terms with the situation regardless of outcome and do our best to learn from it. And then we move on.

Upper Truckee River on June 4, 2025. © Jared Manninen

And I definitely moved on from running after 2001. I mean, I’ve occasionally run since then but my training has been inconsistent and seldom lasting more than a couple of weeks at a time. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first being that I haven’t had any specific goals in mind whenever I start running. The second being that I’ve been engaged in many other immersive activities since that second marathon.

For example, I started training in the Japanese martial art of Aikido in 2003. I consistently stuck with it until 2017. During those 14 years I dedicated the majority of my free time, particularly once I moved to Lake Tahoe, to logging countless hours on the mat. In addition to attending regular weekly classes, I trained outside of the dojo on my own and I attended various Aikido seminars each year. As a result of my efforts, I earned a first degree black belt in 2009 and a second in 2013. Again, I like to do things in twos.

In the winter of 2014-15, I took up cross-country skiing. Ever since then, I’ve logged numerous days and miles each winter. And thanks to cross-country skiing, I’m able to get in great physical shape during the snowy months. So I mostly just hike in the “off-season” to maintain a good enough level of fitness, at least until the next winter arrives.

To-date I’ve only raced once on cross-country skis. And that was the 2019 Great Ski Race hosted by Tahoe XC. At the time, I skied the 30km course in 2:48 minutes (on waxless classic xc skis, if you can believe that). I’ve yet to race again but, in the meantime, I’ve earned a Level 3 Certification in Cross-Country through PSIA (which is no small task). Realistically, cross-country skiing has become a lifelong practice for me so I haven’t been treating it the same as many of the other immersive experiences that I’ve had in the past. I’m in it for the long haul, so there’s no rush to do it all in a single season.

Big Meadow at Luther Pass on June 5, 2025. © Jared Manninen

Beginning in 2019, I became immersed in Tahoe Big Years (2 plant TBYs/2 bird TBYs). Since then, I’ve rarely ventured outside without carrying a bunch of different cameras on my person for documentation purposes. That even includes the non-TBY years of 2020 and 2023 because I still spent those summers hiking, photographing, and essentially preparing for the next TBY. Needless to say, running and botanizing is slightly more possible than running and birding. However, neither endeavor is very rewarding at all so it’s just not something into which I’ve put much effort.

That said, I actually did try to log some pre-xc ski season trail running last fall. And this was during the tail end of the 2024 Tahoe Big Year, mind you, so I was taking a big risk by not having gear with me and generally being unavailable if a rare bird was spotted elsewhere. I know, this is an absolutely crazy mindset but these are the make or break choices that you have to live with during a Big Year – haha!

Needless to say, my trail running efforts only lasted four short sessions. Why? Well, my calves cramped up so bad after a single mile each one of those times that I had to stop and walk. It was so intense and painful that I thought I might never be able to run again. I’m being a bit dramatic, here, but I was definitely having some WTF moments at that point in time.

Lake Tahoe on June 6, 2025. © Jared Manninen

In hindsight, I was trying to run too fast as if I was that same 27 year old training for the 2001 marathon. But why was I trying to run so fast in the first place? Well, I think it boils down to the fact that I simply couldn’t reconcile being that close to the end of the TBY and not grinding for every possible bird with every possible spare minute available to me! Basically, I was trying to run as fast as I could to get it over with so that I could either return home to be ready to respond to any bird alerts or to be on the grind myself and checking out all of the birding hotspots. Believe it or not, I was tied for first place at the same time that I was trying to run again, and that was totally stressing me out. A single new bird or two could’ve effectively sealed the deal for first place at that point in the season. So I recommitted to finishing the TBY strong and stopped running altogether.

The reason I bring up running this month is because I began to run again in earnest back in May, and I’m now struck by a certain sense of déjà vu.

I’m currently embracing a very similar approach to that summer of 2001 in that I’m running consistently, linking breathwork to movement, and allowing myself to properly recover in-between training sessions. I’m not actually preparing for a specific event, but I’m still engaged in deliberate practice and being fully present while I’m on the trail. So the process is the goal right now or, as they say, the journey is the destination.

View of Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe on June 12, 2025. © Jared Manninen

Ultimately, this is all a direct response to my recent diagnosis with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (see last month’s newsletter) and the fact that I’ve never in my life felt as exhausted as I did after this past winter.

The bottom line is that I just want to be healthy again, and I want to be in great shape year-round.

Now, I understand that body weight isn’t a reliable measurement of our state of health. However, I was a wrestler for many years so it’s second nature for me to monitor my weight. What I’ve found over the past decade of being a cross-country skier, and a hiker during the summer, is that my weight predictably fluctuates between five and ten pounds each year. Basically, it’ll increase to about 155lbs by November, but then it’ll drop to 145-150lbs by April. This is simply a result of the volume of skiing that I do, which is generally 100+ days per season.

Keep in mind that I don’t modify my diet at all during the winter. In fact, I probably eat more because I’m always outside, I’m always moving, and I’m always burning calories. But even after logging 111 ski days last winter, I was still stuck at 160lbs until this past month.

Martis Valley on June 19, 2025. © Jared Manninen

Fortunately, between using the CPAP machine at night and running frequently each week the scale now consistently reads 158-159lbs. That’s a very subtle shift, I know, but I’m finally seeing movement. And that’s just based on a general weigh-in. I’ve actually gotten down to 156lbs after longer runs which is all water weight loss, I know, but it’s still nice to see the needle move that far!

Again, body weight isn’t a great measurement of health but the fact that I was basically putting on weight despite skiing so much last winter was very alarming to me. This actually makes me believe that the sleep apnea wasn’t just causing me to be tired all of the time. I think it was starting to really negatively impact my metabolism.

Now, stabilizing my weight hasn’t been the only positive result that I’ve experienced. I’m also sleeping better, I have energy all day, and my body feels pretty good despite all of my increased activity. Basically, my legs aren’t cramping, and I’m not dealing with sore joints or muscles for very long after any given run. So it appears that this current approach to training and recovery is beginning to yield some positive results.

Again, we can never truly predict the outcome despite our best efforts. But as long as we remain diligent in our practice and passionate toward our interests, in the end, I find that things tend to work out for the best 🙂

View of Lake Tahoe from the Thunderbird Lodge on June 20, 2025. © Jared Manninen

Thanks for being a part of my life. Until next time…

-Jared Manninen

Tahoe Trail Guide is an online resource for hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing in the Lake Tahoe region. In addition to trail data, I offer backcountry “how-to” articles and information about the local and natural history of Tahoe. Tahoe Swag is a collection of art and design products I create based on my love of the outdoors and appreciation for Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains.

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