make it up as we go

sets the bar high, decides bars are boring,
throws bar away, invents new bar that
can't be defined with actual words.

"An athletic achievement like winning a race, setting an FKT, or even simply running your first marathon are all moments suspended in time that came about because you focused your great energy and creativity on them.  Believe in yourself, practice, enjoy the process." 
~ candice burt

i'd like to be candice burt when i grow up.

in her world of trail running she makes up her own events, runs beyond their finish lines, then discovers she doesn't really need events or finish lines any more.

in other words, she does what she wants, when she wants to ~ and does it very well. where does one apply for a job like that?

a little reading about trail running reveals a couple consistent themes: one, practitioners say they feel most human, most alive, most at peace when running along an unpaved path through the woods or astride a remote mountain ridge or on the edge of some nameless canyon. two, these folks also describe jaw-dropping physical punishment that sometimes goes along with running in places like these.

"after a while i couldn't feel my feet any more, but i kept going."
"i was hallucinating pretty bad at about mile 60, but i kept going."
"at one point my heart stopped, but i hit myself in the chest really hard and it started up again, so i decided to keep going."

oh, yes, three: more often than not, trail runners keep going. seriously. the last thing any of them will countenance is failing to finish. when they don't, usually it's because they've lost consciousness. or a limb.

i came late to this party, and i've yet to experience anything really extreme. so far i haven't attempted anything far enough or steep enough or treacherous enough. this, i know, is both to my benefit and detriment. what i can confirm, however, is that trail running is life-affirming, soul-soothing, and good for my little brain. it requires you to keep your head in the game 100% of the time while simultaneously enabling you to forget there's a game going on at all.

and you have to appreciate any endeavor where you make up your own events, run beyond the finish line, and get to decide when finish lines are arbitrary and silly. 

"Believe in yourself, practice, enjoy the process."

this way, i think, lies freedom.

************

(FKT = fastest known time)

on my feet and moving.