A Different Mind Set

4/1/13, Richmond VA

Happy Easter Everyone!  I've never been one to celebrate Easter, but I certainly can recognize it and appreciate what it stands for.  I am a Christian and do pray often, but I have much more of a philosophical approach to how I recognize these types of special days.  I tend to lean more towards having a day of thought around what meanings and inspirations I can take away from the recognized day.  This year was no different for me.  

Jaclyn decided to retreat to Mississippi this weekend, having a few days off from work to see her Mother.  I was left to guard the house, and survived with the instincts I acquired through years of living alone, with beer and frozen pizza.  Great time to reflect on life, future life, and in particular what Easter represents to me.  Of course the best way for me to think is during long extended periods of physical stress.  It slows my mind down, just enough to hone in on clear thoughts.  My best ideas, decisions, and action items come from these event-like athletic circumstances.  Being that I had all day Saturday to myself, I figured why not stage one of these occasions.  

I had a plan to run, hike, or traverse 17 miles of Richmond's local area "Fan" and lower hilly trails of the James River.  In planning the course, I took into account how I knew I would feel throughout the run.  I planned to completely trash my legs.  I end up completely trashing my whole body and breaking my psyche down to the root.  My fingers hurt after this run, yet I was smiling and in some kind of Zen state throughout and after.  Emotionally I was exhausted.  I went from feeling ok, to feeling happy, to sad, to mad, to happy, irritated, and back to feeling ok though this process.  I had every emotion.  It wasn't just a great run, it was a bad run, a reviving run, a painful run, and a rejuvenating experience.

Like most endurance events, it takes some time to get in the grove of things, find that pace or comfortability.  I remember distinctly this taking place around mile 7 inside the Forest Hill park area on the south side of the James River bank.  I had done 4 miles through "the Fan" street sidewalks (which could be considered trail taking in account that nothing is even and it can be very technical footing).  Hitting mile 7 though, I got into the rhythm of the ups and downs of the hills and the short flat sections where the heart rate could recover a bit.  My thoughts became very clear here.  

Recently I read the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall (highly recommend). One of the major take aways that I got from the book was about HOW did our ancestors survive on running prey down.  HOW have we evolved to be this society, largely around the world, that relies on transportation provide by something other than our own means.  Being that it was Easter, you have to think of the environment that Jesus must have "run through" (pun intended).  Running almost solely on trails, I began to think of how the connected towns, villages, and cities must have been linked by trails or dirt paths.  These were the highways of the time.  When Jesus wanted to move from town to town, did he simply go for a trail run? What kind of distances were they covering then?  Were there aid stations?  Probably not.  

17 miles turned into 23 miles.  I felt good, not great.  Good enough to keep pushing the limits.  I found that grove and stay in it, until I was completely fantasizing about getting home.  Rarely does anyone push those limits.  I was tired after 10 miles, hurting after 15, exhausted at 20, and just plain trashed right at 23.  I've only been back to running for 4 months, so I was very pleased with the distance covered.  It wasn't so much the distance though that I was so thrilled with.  It was the experience and the different mind set that evolved throughout the process.  The survival instincts that took over through the last few miles were so intense that I felt completely alone with tunnel vision to get home.  

I plan on doing this run again next weekend.  Maybe not the full 23 miles, but certainly far enough to regain that feeling.  Recovery has been great since Saturday.  I ran six miles yesterday (Sunday) and the legs although tired, performed without any pain.  Being that I'm not God, or a God of any kind, I rest on Monday.  

I dare you:  Plan something of the like.  Thing of something you might be capable of, and add more to that.  I kept repeating to myself (as I am training to two ultra marathons this year - 50k & 50mi) 'Your long run isn't far enough if you didn't have to walk a good portion of it'.  

Thanks for Reading - Wes