A blog about ultrarunning, Ironman and hiking 4,000 footers
I saw a Loudon Swain bumper sticker yesterday and I thought of my favorite motivational movie – Vision Quest. I still run to many of the songs from the soundtrack including this one:
However, Loudon Swain is an indie band. But I loved the reminder of a movie that continues to inspire me – if you train and have single-minded focus on a goal – you can accomplish anything. It reminds me, too, that even at 49 I’m still on a vision quest – “to find my place in the circle”.
I’m watching The Call to Courage. One of the first stories Brene Brown tells is how she discovered the above quote from Teddy Roosevelt while obsessing about her TedTalk comments on YouTube.
She is so awesome. It was perfect timing to watch this documentary since 1) I didn’t quite hit my training miles and 2) life is kicking me in the butt.
What I learned from watching her talk:
I’m going to keep showing up in life and training. I’m going to continue to take chances; and try to be vulnerable.
Another Saturday morning and it’s time to head out on a long run. Today I must run 33 miles. It’s cold outside; about 4 degrees. I’m procrastinating. I’m drinking coffee and refreshing weather.com every five minutes. I will run all 33 miles today. Not only do I have to, I want to.
However, the caveat, the but, the …… I’m not going to be able to do it all at once. And, I’m okay with that.
Today I will do a few trail miles with Winnie-dog. Then I will run until I need to meet my friend for a walk and dinner. Then I will finish the miles later in the evening. I will get all my miles in.
As I wait, I start reading the book that I bought: The Passion Paradox by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness. I’ve read book reviews and excerpts, and a ton of articles by Stulberg, and I follow him on Twitter. I kept writing down lines I liked and referencing his articles, so I decided it was time to buy the book, and their other book, Peak Performance. [Peak Performance hasn’t arrived yet.]
What I like about the book is how they use science and philosophy to talk about the dark side of passion and then suggest tools to help find a balance. Passion can help you be successful but it also can break you, they write.
I’m on Chapter 1: Passion Must Be Handled With Care.
I can’t wait to keep reading because I have big goals this year. I always have big goals. And I always go through dark times and feel lost because I can’t get training in or I sleep in or make bad life decisions. I know that I don’t push myself hard enough some days and some days I overdo it. [I seem to only remember that I don’t push myself hard enough.]
Trying to balance big goals and still wake up in the morning to get things done can be difficult but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
One of the lines at the beginning of The Passion Paradox states: People who are passionate about their lives and put “tremendous passion into everything they do” cannot be content. And, alas, this is my problem – I’m never satisfied, I always want more. I can finish a race, whether it is an Ironman or 50 miler, regardless of the challenge, after I cross the finish line I ask myself – What’s Next?
Maybe this is healthy, maybe it’s not. I’ll find out as I continue reading.
Okay, now it’s time to get outside and RUN. It’s now 19 degrees!!
I got a chance to hike to Osceola and East Osceola today. Oh my gosh. The slides are so hard.
I hiked Osceola last January and didn’t quite make it to the main peak but today, I did both peaks and feel like I really don’t need to ever do them again. Well, okay, let’s be real, I want to finish the grid in the next year or two so I have 10 more months that I have to do them in.
My friend Mark, who I know from racing Leadville last year, was up for a challenge and agreed to hike with me. The alternative was running 15 trail miles in Concord. I needed to get out of the city and head to the hills and he was game. Thanks Mark!
The slides were harder than I remembered from a year ago. They were so freaking hard. It was cold, too. Temperatures started at 12 degrees. I debated for hours prior to leaving Concord about bringing Winnie. I love when she hikes with me because I don’t have to worry about getting back to her. And she loves hiking. She did awesome!
There were two other dogs on the trail and they were so cute and happy. Winnie didn’t quite get along with one of them but we didn’t hike with them the entire way. (I think they didn’t get a long because they were a little too much alike; not exactly submissive but not aggressive either. Not every dog gets along and it’s okay). All three dogs just loved being on the trail with their owner and having a great day. So happy!
Mark and I started with spikes and after the first peak switched to snowshoes and then wore them for the rest of the day. On the slides I was walking like an ape, just trying to grasp a hold of anything to make me not slide down.
We were able to hike around the chimney and reached a socked-in summit. It’s okay – that hike was so hard I was just thankful to make it alive to the summit.
The hike down was tricky. We slid down a lot, and there were some scary moments when I couldn’t stop. But you know, it was so great to be in the White Mountains, with my dog, with my friend Mark and bag two 4,000 footers.
I needed to get out of the city. I needed to be in the mountains. I needed to have a beer at One Love Brewery and just escape life and endurance training.
It was a hard day. It was a F**king hard day in the mountains but it was life affirming and filled with all the things I love about my life: dogs, mountains, friends, checking off shit from your to-do list.
I can’t wait for the next time.
I heard about axe throwing when an endurance athlete I follow on Instagram was doing it with her party guest after a race weekend. I thought… weird. But when Tom said, Hey, we should throw axes, I said, sure. Last week was an urban rock climbing adventure, this week urban axe throwing at RELAX. The real questions : Will all this help me train for 100?
I searched on Google and found some good articles.
You’re going to use your lats (maybe better for biking).
While I woke up a little sore, I don’t think it’s going to help me finish a 100 mile race but it was fun and l laughed a lot. So – Win!
I’ve discovered over the last few weeks that I’m a wee bit addicted to weight training. A few days I choose getting my weights in instead of running. This is not great; but that is what happened. These are my favorites.
I keep adding a little more weight every other week. By the end of my hour I’m sweating bullets and feel pumped up. Fun!