Misjudged a limb. Drilled forehead. Huge knot. Went to sip from my handheld. Slipped on loose rocks. Bloody lip. The heart shaped rock behind me reminds me of one thing: love your life... even when it's rocky.
Hi. I'm Zachary. I'm a trail/ultra running, wine/beer/coffee loving, tattooed boy from the south. After waiting in line with a bunch of workers wearing sombreros, I'm sitting on the tail gate of my Element with my friend Aimee. We're devouring glorious tacos made from a rolling restaurant in a gas station parking lot. In this moment, after enough peer pressure from my wifey (Kati) and friends, I decided to start a blog of my running adventures. I will rekindle past events (been trail running for 3yrs now) and basically write about my daily life.
Now back to me drilling my head...
Taper: to diminish or reduce in thickness toward one end.
In the running world, taper basically means to reduce the amount of running before an event. I've tried tapering and I have come to the conclusion that it must be against my religion because I can't seem to get the hang of it. I like to race. You meet new people, see new places without having to do much planning, somebody feeds you every few miles. It's fantastic. But... I LOOOOOVE to run. I love the idea of being able to run trails every single day. Sometimes this means not doing as well in a race, but lets be honest... who really cares? It's all about personal accomplishment anyways. I'm no Kilian, Dakota, Anton, or Sandes. I'm Zach remember?
I'm running the Rock/Creek StumpJump 50k this weekend so I should be tapering. However, stress from work and the Fall weather had me on the trails Monday.
The run started like most every other run. Grabbed my handheld, threw a gel in my shorts, and headed out. An hour in, I start down a steep rocky section. I go for a little sip from my handheld and the next thing I know, I'm trying to catch my balance on loose rock. I catch myself before I completely lose control. I go to wipe off my lips with the back of my hand to reveal a bright red substance I've not seen in a while. I chuckle and carry on.
Another hour passes and I'm flying down some of Alabama's best single track. I'm about to pass under a branch that I've ran under a hundred times. I continue my pace and dip my head. I am now on the ground. I'm sitting slumped over with my arms resting over my knees... my water bottle is a few yards to the left... and in this moment I can't help but laugh out loud. This is my life and I love it.
It's been a rough few weeks for me, but the Fall air is bringing change and big adventures. I can smell it.
Enough for now. The sun is setting, my glass of red wine is empty, and I need to be making my way to the trails. I really just wanted to introduce myself. We'll get more detailed in the future.
Till tomorrow...
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