Enjoying the present and continuing the Journey...

This past week was a great, even though it had its ups and downs, and, the best part was spending seven days with my son. I think I have finally processed my Headlands DNF and am now focused on the Grand Teton 50 mile. I am thankful for the comments and emails I received from many people over the past several days. It is interesting and, it was pointed out to me by one of my friends, that, you, typically have to spend more time explaining an DNF than a finish. Well, I’m finished “explaining” and have moved on because I cannot change the past, wouldn’t want to, and the lessons I took away are valuable for the future. For me, the key to getting through the DNF several days after the race was admitting openly that I was struggling with the decision, instead of ignoring what I was feeling and telling myself to “move on”. Once, I accepted those emotions, I was able to work through them quickly and realize there will be other races and, up until I made the decision to drop, I had a great experience on the trail and that is what counts. And, if I may say the blasphemous words, it is “just running”. I remember the coldness of the morning, the fog, the windy ridges, the warm afternoon on Bolinas Ridge, the wildness and pure beauty of Pirate’s Cove, the sunset, the wonderful walk back to the start/finish area with Olga after I dropped, all the people I met on the trail, and my girlfriend who amazed me with her selflessness in crewing me at every possible point along the trail and then pacing me without complaint. I felt like a VIP on the course that day. Thankfully, I will have the opportunity to return, in kind, at AC100, next month.

Speaking of the future, my focus will be on training for the 50 mile and 50k distance, while I prepare for the Fall race season. I’ll experiment with pace and race strategies during the races and I’m certain I’ll make my share of mistakes, but it’s the only way I can determine what works for me. I believe I am finally healed from my calf injury. I gave it a good test on Saturday evening when I ran at a local trail night race. I wasn’t certain if I was going to run at all, since Harrison was with me. My intent was to take him to the race and let him experience the race environment firsthand, while I volunteered for a few hours. I helped out before the race with a few things while he ran around and played. I had brought my running shoes and bottles, just in case. A few people offered to keep an eye on him while I ran and I decided to take them up on it. I wasn’t planning on running more than two 8.5 mile loops because I didn’t want to worry too much about my son.

I began the run with Pete as we led the way down the trail. It felt good to run and the hills were all runable, which was great. I was unfamiliar with the trail and had no reference regarding what mileage points we were on the trail. Regardless, it felt great getting in a good run. On the far reaches of the course, it began to rain, with a little thunder mixed in. That turned parts of the dusty trail into a slightly muddy mess with mud caked to the bottom of my shoes. I wore racing flats and they gave no traction, but I made due. With the wet rocks, I began to think maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be running a good pace and risk injury. At least it was still light outside. I, also, began thinking of my son and how I didn’t want to go back out for another loop when I finished the 8.5 miles I was running. I came into the start/finish area soaking wet with 68 minutes elapsed. I immediately started looking for Harrison to make sure he was ok and behaving. He was having a great time playing with some other kids. It was getting dark and he asked for my headlamp so he could run around in the woods with his newly-made friends. I strapped my headlamp on him and he took off with his handheld and ran around on close-by trails. I hung around for another hour, then, we left for home. Harrison had a lot of fun and wanted to know when we were going to do it again. The best part of the evening was the simple fact he enjoyed himself so much in the environment I love so much.