One month into preparation for the Chattooga 50k.
I have barely scratched the surface. My longest run to this point has been 90 minutes of trail running and during this recovery week I almost feel that I have not done anything yet. This of course is not the case but rather a steady indication that I am going about this lifestyle in the right way... that is gradually with a long term approach to lifestyle and with challenges as beacons rather than consequences.
Being that this will be my longest race to date I am a bit nervous about the unknown... which is a big reason why I am choosing this distance. I look forward to seeing what lies beyond the comfort of a road marathon. The Chattooga is where I met my wife. It has been the scene for many life changing events in my past. I spent a summer guiding rafts at the magical river. Now I will go beyond my perceived limits and enter a world of discovery.
The training has been physical of course, but mental mainly. Each day I enter with renewed spirit to face the challenge of remaining patient step by step, balancing this reserved perseverance is simple and fragile. At this point it serves me well to know that this race will not be one of speed but a test of staying power... it will be nothing but a continuation of days and hours. In this spirit I run modestly and on most days cover less linear ground than in the past. My ego certainly rebels, and so my self must police and send reminders of the goal glowing down the path. This is running wider while running longer.
This goal is not yet visible. This goal is only a distant concept full of ideals and lacking any concrete reality. However, there is reality in the steps I take in each moment, in the thoughts that flow through me. These things are the path to eventuality. And these things are reality as it morphs through time leading toward that arbitrary moment I have chosen to test for one day what I have amounted to as a runner, as a spirit and as a warrior. This is a way I have chosen from many. The promise glows ever so faintly as if the first glimpse of winter's sun. Barely warming, negligible for now but serving as a reminder of what this soul is here to do.
Now open your mind. Now open your heart. Now open the door... and run.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Down to the river and through the woods
I woke up to below zero windchills... the dogs needed outside and I needed 6 miles. I am thankful that a long run is not on the schedule today. I see the gentle blanket of white and search for skin covering accessories.
Dogs put up, me zipped up and shoes laced up, I head to the hills.
The plan is to get out on the trail network in the backyard. I have been feeling a little run down the last few days but have not adjusted my training. This is a new cycle and the fatigue is to be expected. General soreness is there too, but nothing acute or chronic to raise worry.
My feet land softly, silenty on the Earth. A stride that is determined to move forward in concert with the terrain, forcing nothing. Across the christmas tree farm and beyond the tree where my wife and I were married. Down through a cow pasture and into a thick grove of old pine. I see an adolescent deer bound away. She is the only living creature I will see for these fifty minutes. After a small hill and a slalom through the pines I am descending into an old homestead. All that remains today is the home's chimney and the barn. This was comfort to some family long ago. I am running along their private road, wide enough for two horses and a small wagon. Cresting into a snowy field I can hear the river roaring a half mile away. I set my mind to the turning point and reach it soon enough. The path was riddled with paw prints from Jack out neighbor dog. He must have beat me out here this morning. I pause at the river for a short time. Ice is everywhere. Large sheets have been cracked and floated ashore. The swell and retreat of the river's volume has created this scene of beauty and danger. This is the edge.
I turn for home. It is all uphill back up the river valley and I am catching my footfalls from minutes earlier. My breathe finds its cadence and my stride is efficient. This time spent so strangely makes perfect sense. Not long ago I wondered why. The dreams of setting world records for land speed have long faded and this idea got into me that without competing for a team there was really no need for all this time and energy to be put into this activity. I could be home. I could be with my wife. So, 25 pounds later I had done just that. What I learned is that this is what I do. 20 miles a week, 40 miles a week or 80... this is what I do. The time spent running has great value now and for the future. Balance includes time for our own self.
I reach the front yard via the Dragon Trail. Aster and Lilly are wagging away, bellowing to be let into the warmth... and probably for breakfast. I greet them. Goliath runs around the corner and bumps into me. He dives into the fresh snow and rolls around on his back. He is making Goliath- Angels... all 95 punds of him. I open the front door and the pups dash inside. While they eat their breakfast I drink a hot pot of coffee and think about how simple happiness is.
Dogs put up, me zipped up and shoes laced up, I head to the hills.
The plan is to get out on the trail network in the backyard. I have been feeling a little run down the last few days but have not adjusted my training. This is a new cycle and the fatigue is to be expected. General soreness is there too, but nothing acute or chronic to raise worry.
My feet land softly, silenty on the Earth. A stride that is determined to move forward in concert with the terrain, forcing nothing. Across the christmas tree farm and beyond the tree where my wife and I were married. Down through a cow pasture and into a thick grove of old pine. I see an adolescent deer bound away. She is the only living creature I will see for these fifty minutes. After a small hill and a slalom through the pines I am descending into an old homestead. All that remains today is the home's chimney and the barn. This was comfort to some family long ago. I am running along their private road, wide enough for two horses and a small wagon. Cresting into a snowy field I can hear the river roaring a half mile away. I set my mind to the turning point and reach it soon enough. The path was riddled with paw prints from Jack out neighbor dog. He must have beat me out here this morning. I pause at the river for a short time. Ice is everywhere. Large sheets have been cracked and floated ashore. The swell and retreat of the river's volume has created this scene of beauty and danger. This is the edge.
I turn for home. It is all uphill back up the river valley and I am catching my footfalls from minutes earlier. My breathe finds its cadence and my stride is efficient. This time spent so strangely makes perfect sense. Not long ago I wondered why. The dreams of setting world records for land speed have long faded and this idea got into me that without competing for a team there was really no need for all this time and energy to be put into this activity. I could be home. I could be with my wife. So, 25 pounds later I had done just that. What I learned is that this is what I do. 20 miles a week, 40 miles a week or 80... this is what I do. The time spent running has great value now and for the future. Balance includes time for our own self.
I reach the front yard via the Dragon Trail. Aster and Lilly are wagging away, bellowing to be let into the warmth... and probably for breakfast. I greet them. Goliath runs around the corner and bumps into me. He dives into the fresh snow and rolls around on his back. He is making Goliath- Angels... all 95 punds of him. I open the front door and the pups dash inside. While they eat their breakfast I drink a hot pot of coffee and think about how simple happiness is.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Air Seems Cleaner up Here
The focus from speed to distance has occured. These days surrounding me have brought musings of the future and what could be possible in terms of endurance. 26.2... I've done this, 5 times but not for a long time. So here I sit and think about this fall and the diligence required to reach that period and not be wondering, but rather realizing.
The future surely arrives. What will we do with the moments leading up to it? Will we rest, always being ready to preapare for something? OR will we be doing that something, actualizing life. Creating ourselves, step by step, each mile piling gently or fiercely. Moment by moment is how a life is passed or lived or loved. Discovery is not concrete or quantified. Adventure is in the mind. Achievement is of the soul.
The future surely arrives. What will we do with the moments leading up to it? Will we rest, always being ready to preapare for something? OR will we be doing that something, actualizing life. Creating ourselves, step by step, each mile piling gently or fiercely. Moment by moment is how a life is passed or lived or loved. Discovery is not concrete or quantified. Adventure is in the mind. Achievement is of the soul.
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