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Rob Koch

@vegan_vet_runner

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followers

880

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Writer
Army Veteran
Erstwhile Attorney
Venturer
Masters PRs:
Marathon 2:48:45
Leadville 100 28:41:07
USATF Licensed Coach

POSTS STORIES REELS

I completed a new story titled When the Gravity Ends. Check it out at the Substack link in my bio.

The core of this story was written in a creative writing workshop I attend in the Whole Health Program at the Asheville VA, with the prompt to write a scene that features your character in a temporary place.

What emerged was a contemplation on the nature of being flowing from a brush with death, the common understanding of which I found was not an end, at least for me.
#substack
#whenthegravityends
#cancer
#death
#veteran by @vegan_vet_runner

Last week I shared one of my stories at a reading event here in Asheville. The story is called Maghreb, and can be found at my Substack link in my bio.

I wrote this story in a creative writing workshop I have been involved with for the last few years through the Whole Health Program at the Asheville VA. It is a story about how it can feel to come home after a series of rapid deployments to Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East, and how you can kind of forget who you are, where you are, maybe where you are really from, and you haven’t integrated yet back into the civilian life, and all you can think about are those brief happy moments with your fellow soldiers in some random part of the world instead of being happy where you are now, this place you thought was home.
#substack
#maghreb
#veteran
#asheville
#writer by @vegan_vet_runner

5 bears. A mama and 4 cubs. I rolled up on them to my left in the bushes no more than a few feet away, backed out, waited, and then watched them cross the trail in a little family parade! I’ve seen a mama with 1, 2, or 3 cubs, but never 4. Fun times in the mountains.✌🏼❤️🐻⛰️
#bears
#trail
#trailrunner
#ultratrailrunner
#asheville by @vegan_vet_runner

Back in the saddle for my first mountain race of the year, The Seven Sisters 25K, which circumnavigates the East and West ridges of the Montreat Wilderness, with 4,000 feet of elevation gain and descent, and the highest peak at 5,425 feet named Graybeard, apropos given my shaving habits.

It was a relentless day in the woods given the climbing, technical descent, and rising heat.

But I needed a good ass-whooping in the mountains to get my mind back in the game! Actually, I had consciously decided to enjoy myself through the voluntary pain in a Type 2 fun kind of way, so it turned out to be a delightful day in nature.

It is always interesting to figure out how much you can put yourself through and still finish, hopefully with a smile on your face and a sense of satisfaction flowing from the challenge.

Thanks to @lisamurphyllc for all of her love and support!

Thanks to @tanawha_adventures for another great race!✌🏼❤️⛰️
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainrunner
#tanawhaadventures by @vegan_vet_runner

My wallet photo of my son Seamus, 30 years ago today, when he was only 14 hours old, at Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning, GA. I told him a myth, that he parachuted out of his mother’s belly onto the drop zone, where I took this photo. He may have believed it a one point during our years at Fort Bragg!

This photo has been through the wringer, around the world to deployments in combat and hostile fire zones, jumping out of planes and helicopters in the US and Kuwait, climbing a few 14ers, and running and hiking many 1,000s of miles in my pocket.

The real Seamus too has explored the world, grown up, climbed mountains, ran state championships, and married a beautiful soul who we also love.

So proud of the man (who is much taller than me now!) my little 14 hour old has become. Happy birthday Sea Sea! Hope your day is awesome! 🎂🎊🎉🎈 by @vegan_vet_runner

Happy Dog Day Sylvie & Koda! ❤️💙🐩🐕‍🦺🐾

#Nationaldogday #rescuepoodles #walkyourdog #healthyaging #health #healthcoach #healthyliving #fitafter50 #fitafter60 by @vegan_vet_runner

The reward after running and hiking a section of the Art Loeb Trail on a hot day was a refreshing cold plunge and stroll through Looking Glass Creek.
⛰️
🌲
#pisgahnationalforest
#lookingglassfalls
#artloebtrail
#blueridgemountains
#brevard
#brevardtrails
#northcarolina
#northcarolinatrails
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainlife
#mountainrunner
#outdoors
#trailrunningviews
#roamtheplanet
#runfree
#running
#runningcommunity
#runnersofinstagram
#plantbasedathlete
#veganrunner
#vegansofinstagram
#fitafterfifty
#hiking
#hikingviews by @vegan_vet_runner

What better way to celebrate life than climbing a mountain and reflecting on some great news: My 3-month post-surgery test results came back, and I have less than any detectable amount of prostate specific Ag in my blood, meaning my cancer is gone, undetectable, benign, all the other good adjectives you can think of. So, as of now, I’m free and clear, with a refreshed perspective, and enjoying the beautiful moments that life has to offer when you stop and have a look around you.
⛰️
🌲
#mountcraig
#mountmitchellstatepark
#deepgaptrail
#blueridgemountains
#asheville
#ashevilletrails
#northcarolina
#northcarolinatrails
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainlife
#mountainrunner
#outdoors
#trailrunningviews
#roamtheplanet
#runfree
#running
#runningcommunity
#runnersofinstagram
#plantbasedathlete
#veganrunner
#vegansofinstagram
#fitafterfifty
#hiking
#hikingviews
#cancer
#prostatecancer
#fuckcancer by @vegan_vet_runner

Always a blast navigating the fixed rope section of the crest between Big Tom and Balsam Cone. Apparently our dogs are part mountain goat, looking at us like “what’s the big deal” as they scampered up and down.
⛰️
🌲
#mountcraig
#balsamcone
#mountmitchellstatepark
#deepgaptrail
#blueridgemountains
#asheville
#ashevilletrails
#northcarolina
#northcarolinatrails
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainlife
#mountainrunner
#outdoors
#trailrunningviews
#roamtheplanet
#runfree
#running
#runningcommunity
#runnersofinstagram
#plantbasedathlete
#veganrunner
#vegansofinstagram
#fitafterfifty
#hiking
#hikingviews by @vegan_vet_runner

A family high county adventure with Lisa, Sylvie, and Koda in the Blue Ridge Mountains, hiking, scrambling, and bagging 4 of the top 10 highest peaks east of the Mississippi.
⛰️
🌲
#mountmitchell
#mountcraig
#bigtom
#balsamcone
#mountmitchellstatepark
#deepgaptrail
#blueridgemountains
#asheville
#ashevilletrails
#northcarolina
#northcarolinatrails
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainlife
#mountainrunner
#outdoors
#trailrunningviews
#roamtheplanet
#runfree
#running
#runningcommunity
#runnersofinstagram
#plantbasedathlete
#veganrunner
#vegansofinstagram
#fitafterfifty
#hiking
#hikingviews by @vegan_vet_runner

Taking in the view from atop Big Tom at 6,580 feet on the Deep Gap Trail.
⛰️
🌲
#bigtom
#blueridgemountains
#asheville
#ashevilletrails
#northcarolina
#northcarolinatrails
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainlife
#mountainrunner
#outdoors
#trailrunningviews
#roamtheplanet
#runfree
#running
#runningcommunity
#runnersofinstagram
#plantbasedathlete
#veganrunner
#vegansofinstagram
#fitafterfifty
#hiking
#hikingviews by @vegan_vet_runner

The simple natural beauty of living and hiking in a temperate rain forest.
⛰️
🌲
#rainforest
#hardtimes
#bentcreek
#asheville
#ashevilletrails
#hiking
#hikers
#hikersofinstagram
#hike
#hikenc
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#trailrunninglife
#mountains
#mountainlife
#mountainrunner
#outdoors
#running
#runningcommunity
#runnersofinstagram
#plantbasedathlete
#veganrunner
#vegansofinstagram by @vegan_vet_runner