When the wheels fall off...

Alright… it’s been a few days since my first 50 miler… and while I might be a Johnny- come-lately to this ultra/ trail running thing, I am no less hooked!! And while I’ve heard you got to forget your last marathon before being insane enough to do your next…. I was salivating to pick out the next before even finishing. For an actual race/run report… hit up my friend Jacob’s blog… http://www.jacobevans.net/2010/11/wild-hare-50-race-report.html  He was kind enough to run the entire day with me and really pulled me along when it got rough. He nailed the details of our day… For me, I’ll go over some of the things that I noticed and experienced. A bit of an overview.

 What struck me the most was just how different the race day atmosphere was to what I experience in the triathlon world… So laidback and mellow. All the runners were there to do their own thing and the amount of support by the racers (since that’s all who was out there) was simply amazing. No pressure! Its hard to explain... but at a tri, there is so much personal pressure emanating from others it can be infectious. Camping and hanging out at the race site helped keep it simple. I was planning on running with music, since it helps greatly when the going gets tough, but ended up forgoing pulling out the Ipod since conversation would have been impossible, and conversation made the day. I very much love technical,  winding single track and hills on an ultra course are fun… you get to walk, should walk, and start looking forward to those hills to being able to.

The biggest surprise was not that it would get hard, and it got very difficult, but how I felt when it did. I was waiting and waiting for that wall to hit and had figured I’d make it to about 30 miles without incident. It took 35 and it was pretty instant, but the sense of relief I felt once the wheels fell off was huge.  Once I knew how bad it would be I also knew I could finish one way or another. Acceptance. I was also hoping for that horrible feeling to pass, which it did for the last 5.  That final stretch was incredible. Everything hurt, but there seemed to be an endless reserve of energy to draw from, including the hurt. I think I would have felt cheated if I hadn’t seriously suffered, but I was quite glad it turned around and we were able to finish off nice and strong. No trudging!!   

There are so many details missing, and it is pretty much impossible to encapsulate the entire experience, so I say pull on some shoes and go out… run way farther than you ever have and feel it in your bones!! It’ll be good times!!

Almost time... almost...

So less than a week away from the big run... this is always a time I look forward to... a bit of a taper and break from running to get some fresh legs back... but at the same time its when I feel a bit impotent and helpless as to what lays before me. As much as being lazy appeals to me (and it absolutely does!!!) the feeling of not doing an extra little run or two seems so wrong... luckily there are math equations to be solved and Spanish verbs to conjugate. On another note- if anyone has any last minute musical suggestions for my playlist... shoot me a message!! Anything goes... slow, fast, dreamy shoegaze... I'll find a place for it.

long... and winding...

I've had a few people ask me why I am tackling this ultrarun thing, as well as this triathlon business, and my answers seem to vary depending on who I'm talking to... other athletes, people interested in attempting one themselves, people that could care less or think we're all crazy... I debate constantly with a very dear artist friend about many aspects of these sports in determining their true value... and rather than just spout my own perspective, after an email flurry, I'd rather share her thoughts- she led with a great quote; this one on the triathlete's "need" for equipment... an endless quest, and to many, the most self indulgent part of our sport. An outside perspective grounds us sometimes and here she gets the running part just right. Anyways- on to her.

"The great run, where one exults in the strength of one's body, in the ease and the length of the stride, where nature speaks powerfully in the hills, the wind, the heat, where one takes endurance to the breaking point, and where one is finally engulfed by the goodwill of the spectators and the fellow runners."

-Albert Borgmann, "Focal Things and Practices"  I thought it was really interesting how the writer kept coming back to the great run as one of many epitomes of focal practices, or practices which require skill and have been central to humanity for thousands of years, but most of us have forgotten in the wake of technological advancement. I thought this quote perfectly summed up your employment of running; it's so beautiful, is it not? So, as much as I at times, criticize your use of technology, you embrace and confront the road, the un-road, the wind, the heat, the limitations of your own body, much more readily than I ever do. So in your own way, you both embrace and deny technology when it is called for. Also, you triathletes are very interesting in your usage of technology to engage in activities that are essentially quite elemental and primal. I don't know, I just find that aspect, the paradoxical nature of triathlons, really interesting. So much money and technological advancement goes into such primitive, human tasks. Thought I would share...

Back to me... I do go back and forth in trying to determine just how justified that new, best carbon thing is, and so perhaps I have romaticized the image of the long run, but for now I really like the idea of my body being the only vehicle that covers this distance... an abandonment of all but my being. Any mechanical breakdowns of this machine will be painful and slow to repair. But hey!! At least there will be no flats to fix. Whoohoo!!