I planed on finishing up my blog about Headlands 100 today, but that didn't happen. I was going to go for a training run with my friend Sheri, but her Achilles tendon has been bothering her so she decided it would be best if we planned it for another day. My Achilles has been bothering me as well, but I'm not as smart as Sheri.
I decided at the last minute today to head up to the San Joaquin River Trail and go for a run. I haven't ran hard on the trail in a long time, and figured I'd try to do that today.
As I mentioned earlier, my Achilles tendon has been bugging me, so I knew I would have to listen to my body and see how things went. I knew that I would have to take the first mile easy and see how things would warm up.
I'm happy to say that the run went well. I was able to run relatively hard with almost no discomfort. I'm not writing this entry to talk about my Achilles, I'm writing it to talk about my run... the important part of my run.
Over the last couple weeks I've been thinking a lot. I've sat down with a few friends over the last 2 weeks, we've talked about life, death, what this life and existence might mean, what's important in life, what's not as important in life.
I wouldn't call my self a religious person, but I would consider myself somewhat spiritual. I think it's hard to run on a trail, in the wilderness, and not feel like there is something bigger than you out there.
I love runs like the runs I had today, where I'm by myself, just running as hard as I can on the trail... completely focused on my surroundings... my breath... every step I take on the trail... where you feel like you're part of the trail... and completely at one with the moment. For me, this is the closest to a religious experience that I will get right now.
Running hard on the road or track is one thing, running all out on the trail is another. For me, it takes 100% of my focus on the trail or I'll land flat on my face. That's what I love about running hard on the trail, when I'm 100% focused on it, the trail is an amazing experience. Running hard on the trail, through the trees, with the river in sight, in the middle on nowhere, just going where the single-track takes you... it's amazing and sometimes overwhelming.
When I'm in that zone on the trail, I'm not just running, I'm feeling alive!!! I'm able to clear my head, feel focused, happy, and feel level headed.
I though a lot about my life today. The people that have come and gone, people who I have pushed away, people who have walked away, the ups and downs of life, and where I've been and where I might be going. I've been going through a lot of self-reflection over the last few months. There are many things about myself that I know I need to improve on... that I want to improve on. I'm very far from being perfect (and never will be), and very far from being the person I would like to be, but I have time to make adjustments to try to be that person.
I've spent most of my time the last year training on the road, on the track, and at the park. Today while I was pushing myself on the trail, I realized how much I miss taking the time to drive a little bit out of my way so that I can run by myself in nature, away from everything and everyone. I forgot how centered and refreshed I feel after a hard trail run. I'm definitely going to make it a point to hit the trail at least once a week right now.
I have a road marathon that I'm training for right now that will require a lot of long runs on the road, and speed work on the track. With that beings said... I'm still going to try to get up to the trail whenever I can to keep myself centered.
Until next time...
KEEP RUNNING!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment