Category Archives: Tarsnakes

Tarsnakes, like the namesake tar patterns on roads across America, are in the context of this blog any allegorical event, thought or other phenomena that can trip you up along the way, or cause you to swerve or even crash. While tarsnakes are usually best avoided, at times they are unavoidable. And so, we discuss how to deal with these “life events” that either affect or stem from your running and riding.

Still, a tarsnake or other road or surface feature when viewed up close can reveal hidden beauty and perhaps even wisdom.

Here’s the 411 on the 911 on 421

Posted on November 17, 2025 by Christopher Cudworth

We all need a “go-to” route when we want to run without thinking about the course. Continue reading →

Posted in aging, Christopher Cudworth, cross country, fear, friendship, life and death, running, sex, Tarsnakes, training | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The year I damn near died in a toothy fashion

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Christopher Cudworth

Somewhere in the middle part of my 60s a tooth went bad in the back of my jaw. I’d gone to some sketchy dentists right after my wife died and the first dentist I visited didn’t explain clearly that my … Continue reading →

Posted in 10K, Christopher Cudworth, cycling, death, Depression, half marathon, life and death, love, mental health, race pace, racing peak, running, swimming, Tarsnakes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Sprint to Respectability

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Christopher Cudworth

The Naperville Sprint Triathlon is the first real triathlon I participated in ten years ago with my wife Sue. We’d met in July of 2013, gone riding and running together right away, but then she had a bike accident (her … Continue reading →

Posted in 13.1, 400 meter intervals, 400 workouts, 5K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, bike accidents, bike crash, Christopher Cudworth, competition, cycling, friendship, IRONMAN, love, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, riding, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

50 Years of Running: What is my real job?

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

As the Traveler’s Cheques slowly disappeared, I kept up the hunt for a job in the summer of 1983. Meanwhile, small freelance jobs kept coming my way. I drew up some ads for Vertel’s Running store, but the process was … Continue reading →

Posted in 400 meter intervals, 400 workouts, 5K, adhd, anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, competition, running, Tarsnakes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Am I smart?” is the hardest question in life to answer

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Recently while filling out paperwork for some potential teaching assignments, I requested college and high school transcripts to send in with the applications. Looking through my academic record was a bit humbling in many respects. Those Algebra II grades my … Continue reading →

Posted in Christopher Cudworth, college, cross country, Depression, healthy aging, running, swimming, Tarsnakes | 3 Comments

Squirrel!

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

This morning my wife let our dog Lucy out the door to greet me at the moment when two squirrels ran out from beneath the line of cedar trees next to our lawn. Lucy gave chase to one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, healthy aging, life and death, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons, we run and ride, We Run and Ride Every Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The wounds we carry with us and leave behind

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

People like us run and ride for a ton of reasons. Along the way, we experience pain, even invite it into our lives. At other times, we avoid it. Try to block it out. Leave it behind. It’s a strange … Continue reading →

Posted in Tarsnakes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The problem with Covid-19 and all that crap

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

While most of the world is sick of Shelter At Home orders and stores and businesses being closed due to Coronavirus, those of us that run and ride and swim face a genuinely vexing problem while we try to stay … Continue reading →

Posted in riding, running, Tarsnakes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It's a bad time to be a nail-biter, but welcome to the club

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve been biting my nails since I was a little kid. Even as an adult my fingernails are sometimes a ragged mess if I collapse into the nervous habit of chewing on them. … Continue reading →

Posted in 10K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, cycling, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, track and field | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Riding the cusp of Coronavirus reality

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

The black cardinal of reality During an eight-mile bike ride through Saguaro National Forest on a triathlon training trip, I watched a black bird with white “windows” in its wings launch from a branch and flap its way down a … Continue reading →

Posted in anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, climbing, cycling threats, healthy aging, healthy senior, swimming, Tarsnakes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment