American Football - Never Meant
This post is a tribute the ethereal nature (as if there aren't enough posts like this already on this blog) of mountain running. The above song is a favorite of mine for various reasons, but one specific reason is how the 4 parts relate to a run (up and then down a mountain).
:00 to 1:12
Building energy, and feelings of hope, curiosity, and tenacity abound in this part of the song. Physically, my stride is both energetic and shakey as I alternate between spurts of energy and small amounts of fatigue through steeper and shallow inclines.
1:12 to 2:15
Doubt and fatigue with a slowed cadence. I start to shuffle step with a tighter stride, the hill gets steeper, and the summit seems to linger forever just another quarter mile out of reach.
2:15 to 2:58
The summit, a pause, and then a sweet increase in rhythm, smiling, and persistently growing energy and light. I peak out, and begin the contrastingly quick descent. The legs feel like a piece of paper lit on fire, at first slowing burning, and then fully catching fire releasing light and athletic whips of flames that engulf the paper and the runner as he lets go. The downhill is fast, but technically demanding, and thoroughly enjoyable. The riffs of the acoustic guitar represent the creativity of various foot placements while the bass line underlines the consistently increasing pace and energy. (See background picture of blog)
2:58 to the End
The contrast of the downhill section's energy with the reality of modern life shows both the magic of the downhill, and the increased energy and endorphins felt post run. A trot back through the flat to the car isn't easy, but the energy of the run as a whole is savored. The same stretch of trail feels much different than a few hours ago.
Monday: 20mi, 4500ft, 3:29 Eaton-Winter Creek-Eaton-Altadena Crest with Jorge
Tuesday: 5mi, 0ft, :41 Costa Mesa Bike Path
5mi, 800ft, :51 Boat Canyon
Wednesday: 7mi, 1100ft, :73 Boat Canyon
3mi, 0ft, :25 Minimus Trial
Thursday: 3mi, 0ft, :25 Costa Mesa roads, bruised achilles was sore
Friday: 3mi, 0ft, :27 Costa Mesa roads, achilles still sore
Sat: 21mi, 4800ft, 4:10 Eaton-Mt. Wilson with Peter and Katie. 1-2' of snow from miles 6-15.
warm and sunny at the bottom
a little bit chilly a couple thousand feet up
Very chilly and beautiful at the top
Sun: 28mi, 7000ft, 5:05 Eaton-Chantry-Eaton-Cooldown. Felt sore from the snow on Saturday, but keep pushing through and eventually warmed up getting to chantry (13mi, 4000 up, 3000 down) in 2:22, then went to the bottom of the hill before chantry, ran up, refilled bottles and ate food for 3 minutes to simulate race conditions. Ran :29 to the bottom of winter creek, :50 up the climb to the toll road, and :25 down to Idlehour. Even with the snow from 4000-5000ft, I still came out 15 minutes ahead of course record pace, which was nice to do relatively comfortably.
PM: 5mi, :43 San Vicente
Totals:
100mi, 18,200ft
February:
334mi, 60,600ft
Being sick put a damper on the month, but March is already looking good with a new pair of trail minimus on my feet and more hours of sunlight!
No comments:
Post a Comment