sunrises, sunsets and visuals in between

 

lost highways, mining castles, hidden single track in two horse towns, alien crash landings, frosty sunrises and sunset, safe words, hashtags, tainted pink....yetis, branded beavers on bikes, moscow mules, great friends, phantom ranches, canyons and lots of am radio stations still playing old country songs.

summer

spec·i·fic·i·ty

/ˌspesəˈfisədē/

noun

1. the quality of belonging or relating uniquely to a particular subject.

coming off of 4.5 years of inconsistency, injury and setbacks, i went into the early steps of winter with the goal of rebuilding my relationship with running and rebuilding my body. a modest buildup and lots of backcountry skiing and strength work gave me a chance to slowly start transitioning into specific efforts with an eye on exorcising the demon of my broken foot/dnf in 2015 at waldo 100k. age, time off and lost fitness were a consideration when building my prep i selected a few events that i felt best mimicked the waldo 100k course in preperation.

wild outback 55k course profile

some pretty specific needs: moderate mid level altitude, multiple climbs and descents, lots of douche grade and a progression between first race and goal race.

siskiyou outback 50k course profile

wild outback was an eye opener. hard rust buster that my body physically responded to, just didn't have the stamina to race but was pretty pleased to cover any distance over 25 miles for the first time since 2014. physically my climbing at any sort of anaerobic effort was poor as expected coming off the time off and slow rebuild so management and bouncing back was key in that effort. SOB was a marked improvement with recovery from wild outback and some additional training under my belt, i made a fitness jump. the high country in oregon opened up and geared a lot of my training efforts towards being able to handle the repetition of climbing an descending and overall effort of waldo.

waldo 100k course profile

the program worked. i felt good, physically and a nice 2 week taper after a last long effort coming off a really intense period of work and little sleep set me up to accomplish my goal. i don't usually recommend going into an event like waldo with 4.5 years off and only 1100 miles of running in 8 months, but the balance of aerobic ski efforts, strength work, experience and specificity in training and prep races left me with a result i feel good about. plus, it felt good to see a summer of finish lines, goals met and finally a waldo hat.

descending fuji. capture by teri smith

specificity. quality, not quantity. 

fremont

band aids are never meant to be permanent. i finally removed one for good last fall and started back despite not being completely healed and painfully willed my way out of the cycle that had gripped me. looking back on accepting that path and circling back seems on the surface, rather inane. though, in a world where we each spin day to day, unpacking from this past weekend gave me an opportunity to pause and reflect. 

i've done the work and hit a marker recently, so before i continue on this adventure of physical and spiritual rebuilding, i can't do it without an honest assessment of what person stands in the mirror and the experiences learned leading into and during the current relaunch

a few lessons delivered to me:

-laughter > ibuprofen. if only we could bottle the stuff. since we can't, build your tribe and water that seed frequently. don't go numb.

-there is a big difference between having a good life and being a good person. my town in full of people with shiny toys and empty hearts. rather than get pulled in, i decided to push free and be a better fucking person. sincerity beats sprinter in any hand of poker at my table

-don’t ever, ever get complacent. this could be a post in itself, but the slope is slippery. keep your head clear. stay humble, motivated and engaged in the moment.

i've got more lumps coming. this i know. with those lumps though, i also get a few more miles, smiles and experiences that i've gladly observed vicariously while injured tissue kept me locked. i embrace and look forward to receiving all of them and earning the measurable gains like i've already had in this short period of time. 

thankful

jun 8, 2019. sharing my stoke at my first ultra finish line since 2014. photo by jake

ground work

brother meriwether at crater lake

bringing running back into focus hasn't been as simple as flipping a switch. there are days where the flow showed up in foggy glimpses, then the body threw it's caution flag and the battle of rest vs. push wages. the scene is a bit of rookie ball after a layoff and decondition. mostly, i'm out of habit. but habits return. right now it's about remembering which are the good one's and mitigating the bad ones.

volume hasn't been the goal, but rather the consistency that comes with rebuilding my relationship with running. i'm conscious of what's required. the connective tissue and muscle memory continues to rebuild but the cardio outlets remain open to other sports while my running body catches up. a few days ago brother meriwether came through bend with a truck bed full of toys meant for exploro and we decided to take advantage of a weather opening to see what we could see on grand scale. it's one thing to go for a ride, it's another to see something in a way you never had. i've been keen to get to crater lake in the winter for awhile. i knew the snowmo's used the main road for access, but conditions are never given. it was worth the shot. you don't know what you don't know. 

now we do, at least for that day. if mother nature throws a dog a bone, she doesn't care whether it tastes good or not. that's up for us to discover

the surprise for me was following up my longest run in a long time and highest volume week with a good day on the bike and my body responding. it builds confidence and emotional momentum. it's nice to feel that cumulative fatigue that comes with stacking together consistency and seeing the cup get refilled. while the flow still eludes, i'm back on this shit and it feels good.