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!!