Thursday, August 17, 2006

The Rising

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Bruce Springsteen - The Rising


Some of my best races (runs) have come when there were few expectations of doing well. I toe the starting line relaxed with little anxiety. It is a matter of what will be, will be. The Turkey Swamp races were this past weekend. They are a series of races run on a 2 ½ mile loop of single path trail (runner on your left!), sandy, gravel road and grass. The distances are 10 miles, 25K, 20 miles and 50K. In the Spring, I had planned on running 50K but as summer progressed and after I finished my 4th marathon/ultra in 4 months (June), I eased up on the mileage and wasn’t fairing too well with some of my runs in the Summer, so I decided to run 20 miles at Turkey Swamp. I figured that I wasn’t prepared to run 20 miles but it might be the catalyst that was needed to get my fall marathon training season jump-started. Twenty miles is 8 - 2 ½ mile loops, the most I have ever run on a loop course. I wasn’t sure what to expect since on loop courses, I sometimes get that “Oh no, not another one” syndrome. I was also a little concerned about the ligaments in my one ankle on the rooty trail section of the course. Starting in a controlled, easy-paced manner is something that cannot be stressed enough in longer distance running. I always say, “Let the race (run) come to you”. Each time this has happened to me, I have had one of my best runs. Starting this way, I let the faster runners go. Early on, it was a bit difficult running on the trail because we were bunched up and seeing a few feet out onto the trail is important to navigate the roots and stumps. As the race progressed I found myself more alone on the trail sometimes not seeing a runner in front of me (am I going the right way?). I saw nothing coming up behind. Entering the shaded trail, it felt like I was finding my way through the darkness. How many times in life do we feel this way – nothing in front, nothing behind making our way through the darkness? Yet we keep moving forward, the trail ever changing yet still the same. The trail was my favorite part of the course – calm and comfortable yet needing focus. You cannot shuffle on a trail or you will find yourself nose-planted into the dirt (as I saw runners before me – 4 times). Of course, a trail run is not a trail run without a nose-plant! I got to experience the trail 8 times and each time it was more serene and my pace steadily improved with each lap producing a negative split. Through the darkness on the trail, there is a chain that binds. That chain is running. In essence, all the runners on the course and specifically the trail were bound by the chain, each a link with a common desire, a unique motivation and a strength not to be broken. At some point you do lose track of how far you have gone – how far you have gone in miles, in time and in laps. It doesn’t matter anymore; what matters are the feelings and experiences of the event, the camaraderie of the other runners, and time alone. Part of the beauty of running is that you can be part of this chain yet be in your own world at the same time. As the race goes on, the sixty pound stone usually gets heavier and the half mile line has more drag. It never happened to me at Turkey Swamp. With each lap, I was stronger, more focused, relaxed and calm. I ran a negative split running the last 10 miles 4 minutes faster than the first and finishing in 3 hours 21 seconds at a 9:01 pace. It also capped off a 66 mile week, the most miles for a week in my running life. Sometimes the unexpected happens when there are no expectations, when you let the race, let life come to you, through the darkness, not knowing how far you’ve gone, with a chain that binds.

"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and poet

Monday, August 07, 2006

Is There Anybody Out There?

Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?