Get High

Yes, Running Can Make You High

May we all feel it on May 31st.

Fishing in the Dark

I had a good 11 miler last night. I got home from Spokane later than I had hoped, decompressed for a few minutes longer than I should have which meant that I started my run later than I should have considering the location, the quickly setting sun and the absence of K-Fed. Solution: Run really fast. I lost it on the 105th hill (Kate knows the one) at the end of my run and then lay on the floor for a good 10 minutes after I got back, but it felt really good.

Does anyone else get violently cold after finishing a run? I know I used to get a little cold, but I am ridiculously cold after I run now-a-days.

Saw some interesting wild life in the ol' Columbia:

This is one of the fatties responsible for the salmon decline. Remember, place all the blame on him and none on our own excesses.



And here is one of my favorite birds; they make the coolest noise when they are flying down the Skookumchuck (or any river for that matter).

Anyone catch the NPR story on 24? Yea, me neither, but I am sure it is good and will listen to it later.


Enough delirious randomness; I am going to bed.

Ouch.

I might need a new leg when all is said and done.

No, I'm telling you.

Intervals are horrible. My butt hurts. A bone in my lower left leg seems to be gently breaking. And I blame you. I could barely squeeze out three sets at 6:58. Too fast. Thought I was gonna puke. Might have if I tried to do two more. Why did you suggest this? Why do you look all buff and slim in that picture? What color is my parachute?

I need a drink.

I'm telling you.

Intervals.

The real spirit of the marathon

It's my opinion that the real spirit of the marathon is self-deprivation and sacrifice. Purification is the end. Physical training is the means. Who among us has ever romanticized in their mind becoming a shaolin monk? The solitude; the personal thoughts and visualization during the hours spent running alone are themselves a type of meditation. The patience required for achievement. The absence of material rewards. The things we do. The things we do without. Testing physical and mental endurance. Focusing on technique and breathing. Feeding our bodies the things they need and forgoing the things which, under different circumstances, we might otherwise want. And why? Precisely because we don't have to. I do not necessarily mean that marathon training is some kind of religious experience. I mean that marathon training can be likened to a part of a monastic lifestyle. You know, the part that doesn't have to do with worship. Balance, calm, clarity and humility are still attained.

I've often thought of this modern monasticism and why it's so appealing to me, given this age of techno-ease and instant gratification. I think that it feels good to work for something, to struggle, to do without and to accomplish on your own. And make no mistake, when running a marathon, you are very much on your own. I think that part of it goes back to what Chuck Palahniuk said in 'Fight Club': "We are history's middle children...we don't have a great war in our generation, or a great depression...". If there is no common cause, no collective call to arms, then some of us are compelled to an individual one.

I think that it's more and simpler than that, though. It feels good to know oneself - what you're capable of, where your limits are and what you could really do if you really had to. That's the most practical value of so much disciplined dedication.

Accidental Overage & Death by Velcro

I knew I had gone too far when I got to Fletcher's Boathouse, but I didn't realize just how much too far. I'm glad I had some Gu on this run and some scenery I hadn't seen in a while. After a hot shower and some pizza I mounted a serious velcro gun assault on my little brothers, but was beaten, badly. I'm a much bigger target and as James was kind enough to point out, "older and slower". But I ran 12 miles this morning! All you did was go to church!