Peace Corps Bound!

After almost a year long application process, I'm proud to say that I have been accepted into the Peace Corps! I'll be flyin down to the Dominican Republic in March of 2014 to teach and promote literacy for 27 months. And guess what? I'll write to you every month with news, stories, jokes, fun runs, and anything else you ask me for. I might be the only PC volunteer at my post, so, PLEASE!, feel free to comment and keep me sane.

Well, I haven't done much running this summer. But I did find my way up this hill in Maine. Did you know they also have pretty rocks there?

In October, I'm hittin the road! Driving to California. Livin on the [BEACH!] in Monterey Bay with my girlfriend Becca. I'll be sure to have great times on the way over so stay tuned for that post.

And now for something entirely different. This summer at camp, I had an idea. A funny idea. And it became a reality. Hooray for fun at Journeys End Farm Camp (http://journeysendfarm.org/about.html)

AT and Highlands Trail Run

I just went on such a great run. It was pretty hard towards the end, more mountains than I expected, I kept losing the trail, I ran out of water, the trail was a river (we've had a lot of rain lately).

I met such great people along the way. The first guy I met at the parking lot. He looked older, mid-40s, receding white hair, carried a buck knife around his hip. Thick New Yorker accent. He had just run up and down these steep mountains. He started telling me about running in moccasins on the rocky mountain trails, I couldn't believe it. He said, "You run in moccasins on these trails for a few months, you'll get great coordination. You'll be a FUCKING DANCER!" He was funny.

Then I met a guy at the "Bobcat" shelter that was section hiking the AT. He said he was cold, and he looked like he was shivering, but it was hard to tell since he also stuttered when he talked. I'll call him Shiver-Me-Timbers. He didn't want to get out of his sleeping bag and didn't want to go get soaked and cold in the rainy day. I told him about my Peace Corps application, and he said his friend did Peace Corps in China, and absolutely loved it. That got me pumped about Peace Corps.

Lastly, I met a couple eating lunch on the Highland trail. They were standing there, their belongings blowing all over in the gusts, eating sausages. They sounded Russian, or maybe that was just because they had food in their mouth, or maybe a combination of both. Heh. I asked them how they were doing in the rainy day and the lady said, "Y'know, you have to go, in whatever weather, it will be better tomorrow, next day. The waterfall was BEAUTIFUL. Very strong and big. I would not have seen it like that had we not hiked today."

Hikers are my favorite!

NJ Ultra Festival Race Report

This past weekend, I ran my first ultramarathon since last September. The NJ Ultra Festival was held at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. I decided to camp out at the fairgrounds on Friday night. While I had a frigid night with little sleep, I did get to see the brightest shooting star of my life! It was white and blue, very bright, and big, and it rocketed across the sky with a long tail.

My parents came to the Festival Saturday morning to crew for me. I was glad they were there. They even laundered my sweatpants while I ran and brought me hot chocolate and compliments. The race was well-managed and well supplied. Water stations every few miles. An aid station with granola bars, junk food, and terrible tasting Hammer endurance drinks. At night, they even had hot broth and noodles at the far aid station. Yum. The food at the Sunday Brunch after the race was even better, but I wasn't able to eat much initially, because my mouth was sore from 20 hours of snacking on salty foods.

The race course had surprising unnecessarily poor conditions. It's a 10 mile course with two out-and-back trail sections. The "trail race" was on an unmaintained old gas pipeline trail that was swamped in many areas. For the 100 milers, we had to traverse the swamps 20 times! The runners had to walk on the slanted side of the trail to pass the swamps and the trails edges became icy at night. I slipped and stumbled into the icy mud many times. The course was flat and fast, all considering. The large bathrooms and aid stations made this race pretty convenient compared to other places I've ran long.

The weather was cold, but pretty easy to manage through the day and night.

I went out 90 minutes for the first 2 lap and soon realized I went out too fast. I started to worry that I had wasted energy, that I wouldn't finish, that this race would take forever to finish, etc.. I was reminded of the Mindfulness book I am reading right now called, The Mindful Way Through Depression, by Williams, Teasdale, et. al.. I had a great thought at some point - if I can just get my mind out of the way, my body will be able to run smoothly. So I came up with a mantra to say in sync with my breathing and foot strikes, saying, "I'm - In - The - Groove." The other one I said to keep me thinking and sensing the present moment was, "Right - Here - Right - Now." These mantras helped my mind stay present and calm while I ran. Can you believe it, I continued to say those mantras to myself for over 10 hours until I finished.

After a day of running, I continued to run through the night. Oddly, there weren't many others running the course at night. Most people were walking. I stopped to walk with one woman because she seemed distressed and down. Her partner had left her after the first lap, she was having stomach problems, and she was worried she wouldn't finish in the 29 hour time limit at her current pace. I was happy to help, sharing my mantra, my eating habits, and giving her some company. Hell, I was pretty lonely myself. Even though the course is set up so you pass many people on this narrow two lane trail, I hadn't run with anyone for 10 or even 15 hours. But soon enough, I said goodbye and good luck to Eleanor and started running and slipping on the muddy trail again.

On my tenth lap, my dad told me to rush this next lap so I could finish in under 20 hours. I told him no. I wanted this run to be about experiencing the race, and enjoying the run. I did not want this experience to be driven by a need to get some time or some place. As my friend Barry says, when someone asks what time he got in a race, he says, "Yes, I had a good time."

I am always surprised how alive I feel and how strong my emotions are at the end of a long run. At the finish line, I was overcome with relief. I was proud of the conviction within my body, spirit, and mind. I was proud of my parents for being there, and being great parents. The race director said they'd monogram my name into a belt buckle and mail it to me. My first belt buckle. My mom's friend joked that it was quite necessary to give me one since I'd need it to hold up my pants after losing weight from the race.

I signed up for a 100 mile race in March, part of the NJ Ultra Festival. This will be the first 100 mile race I have ever done. The Native American spiritual journey I have attended the past two summers- the Katahdin 100 - is indeed 100 miles long but not a race. I hope I can finish the race. Wish me luck! And I'd appreciate a comment or two in the weeks to come to kick my butt into high gear, bear the cold weather, and train!

"is this another running story, Steve?"

Phew. I have been up since 7pm yesterday. 20 some odd hours awake. Among the things to blame is a nap I took yesterday (I keep thinking "this time it will be different- I will just take a little nap and go to bed on time..."), a homemade didgeridoo that is completely fascinating to learn to play, and some late night chocolate (burnt chocolate - when is that ever a good idea to eat?). Heh. My friends tease me everytime I tell a story because it always starts (or develops into) "so I went running the other day and..." Last week I realized I needed new trail running shoes. I was on a rockytrail, tripped over a rock slightly and caught myself mindlessly bending down to put my toes back in the shoe. The toeboxes were long since ripped out by similar trips and scrapes. I realized there were more holes than shoe material on my feet. Heh I went to Fleet Feet in Mahwah and bought a pair of the new Brooks Cascadia. I have never bought Brooks shoes before. I tried them on the rockiest nastiest trails I know in Ramapo Reservation in Mahwah - and I am blown away. I am so glad I am investing in my passion. If I hadn't, I'd probably have twisted my ankle on a mountaintop by now in those death traps I was holding onto before. My friend recently told me how I inspired him to start running long -distance and now he is training for a half marathon. I love that! Inspiring other towards better healthier more active and satisfying lifestyles warms my heart. I want that to be part of my legacy and what others remember me by. Remember - have fun on the run!

24 hour run video

Here's a long-awaited surprise: my Mom discovered a video that she took on her phone from the 24 hour run last Spring. I uploaded it to Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYLf2fWQ8-k

Back in action!

After a computer meltdown a few months ago, I've had to borrow others' computers to publish blog posts. In the summer, I spent hours typing a thank you letter to donors of the 24 hour run fundraiser last Spring, and I lost Internet connection and lost the whole letter. Sufficed to say, computers have not been my favorite machine lately.

The storytelling of the K100 has been on my mind lately. I haven't posted this year's story in full yet because I have been travelling a lot but also because I want to go into so much detail and only have small chunks of free time or patience for it. Truth is, the story I write here will probably not reflect the significance and profound richness of the experience I had. It will only be a summary. C'est la vie.