The Long Road Back (and an awesome video)

Four and half months ago, June 4th I believe it was, I was limping back to the starting line of a race I was running. It was pouring rain, and I was freezing. The cold and mud made for a long way back to turn in my bib and head to the car to warm up. Little did I know that it would serve as an appropriate metaphor for this injury that’s been dragging on and on and on…

The good news is that I am definitely better. The bad news is that it’s taking baby steps to get there. I am now able to walk every single morning. Usually, I put in a mile or two. That doesn’t sound like much, but, trust me, it’s progress. Over the last week or so, I have been able to throw in short, short jogs of about a half mile or so. As a result, my weekly mileage last week was 1.5. Back in the day, that was a rounding error, now it’s progress.

Ultrarunning has taught me patience and every ounce of it is being tested right now. It has also made me more tenacious. It is this patience and tenacity that will eventually bring me back to the starting line of an ultra.

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On a completely different note, make sure to read “New Tool for Mountain Climbers: A Stopwatch” from last weekend’s New York Times. It reminded me of last summer when I was climbing 14ers as fast as I could. The article also mentions this awesome video of Ueli Steck running up the Eiger in Switzerland. Perhaps the best video on YouTube. Enjoy!