H2C

My stride is lengthening and becoming looser. I'm feeling better, thinking clearer, and remembering things I had long forgotten.
- Bernard Heinrich

Last week I ran in Hood to Coast, a twelve man 200 mile relay from Mt. Hood in Central OR, to the Pacific coast. The team splits up into two vans of six runners. Each runner within the van runs about a 5 mile leg, and then hands it off to the other van. You do this hand-off three times, and an individual runner comes out to 15-20 miles.

It’s a pretty intense running event, taking somewhere around 25 hours to complete, and each leg is basically a race, so people have likened it to a marathon-type effort. It’s a day with lots of hard running, confusion over handoffs, and not enough of sleep or showering.

Beyond the running, though, it’s just a super fun day, and really an extravagant adventure. The best way I can explain it: As I was coming up to my driveway to be dropped off, it felt like I had returned from an intense month long backpacking trip through Southeast Asia, except I had come and gone in a mere 35 hours. My friend John put it best: “It’s basically an hour of running, and eight hours of hanging out.” Sounds great.

One of my friends from church had invited me to be a part of his team, so I got to meet a lot of new running friends, and by the end of the day there was definitely a unique camaraderie among us. We went through a lot in those 35 hours. We heartbreakingly missed shower stops, chowed down on pizza and beer in the middle of a race, drank countless cups of free McDonalds coffee, and of course, supported each other through three grueling races.

The company was great, but much like the marathon last year, I was woefully unprepared. I’ve been dabbling on the bike and the elliptical, but the only running I did prior was three 55 minute runs the week before. I was sore and dead tired from each of those three runs, but I figured I’d survive.

My three legs were a mid-day 7 miler on a bike path, a midnight downhill 5 miler through the woods by bike light, and an 8 mile trek through the rural roads of coastal Oregon. They all went great, especially the last one. I ran exactly how I wanted, I tapped into all of my previous running experience, and put in an effort I can honestly say I was proud of.

Having taken such a long hiatus from running, I’ve been on about five runs since October, it was surreal to put in a real running effort again. It took me back to those feelings when I was running a great workout, tracking down my teammates, slowly pushing the effort and pushing further and further into pain, not knowing for sure how far you can push before breaking down, and yet not breaking down.

And I think in a weird way, such a surreal running experience, to share it with friends I might never see again, there is something meaningful to it. It adds to the transitoriness. I can’t explain it, but it feels comforting.

The last few months I’ve felt like my writing has been subpar. It hasn’t lead me to any breakthrough ideas, nor has it felt like I’ve put together a really polished and impressive piece of writing. As I was concerned about this, it made me realize, maybe my life is stale.

I just finished Michael Crichton’s memoir, Travels. Crichton attended med school at Harvard, and finished school to get his MD, but he felt like the field of medicine was toxic, and opted for a career in writing instead. Sidenote - he birthed Jurassic Park and ER, so that was a good call.

Travels is about his adventures in life, both inner and outer, as he tells stories ranging from climbing Mt Kilimanjaro to attending meditation retreats. Crichton believes that during times of struggle, it is absolutely necessary to leave your ordinary day-to-day life to reframe your perspective on life, and to provide you with the ability to problem solve differently.

As I was going through this life stalemate, I inadvertently had a Travels experience, Hood to Coast. It really got me out of my normal routine, interacting with people I don't normally see, and doing things I don't normally do. I can't articulate how it changed my perspective, but so far it has urged me to quit my volunteer position at the children’s hospital and get back into shape by going back to bike commuting. Hopefully it will cascade into more changes, and increased capacity to sacrifice for others.

from ken

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