I have no New Year's Resolutions. In fact, I'm not sure I ever have had any. HOWEVER, I have got something a little different. I embrace a Word of The Year. Introduced by my wife - Vicki - and spread like smouldering fire to people around us, friends, family, colleagues. The point is not to claim desire to do this or that, the resolutions of 'get fit', or 'swim a mile', or 'eat less chocolate.' SPECIFIC goals are very vague, it is so limited, so singular focused. Using a word and seeing where I choose to let it take me is liberating. That is why I like it. It is infinite. It is scaleable. I can make it as huge, or small as I choose to focus attention into it. It is not a vague desire to sketch out a future-self and say, I'm going to be that person. I will be fitter, stronger, thinner, more literate, better read, the list goes on. My Word allows me to evolve and twist and come back to it, grow some more, wander off for a month and then come back newer, better, shinier. RELEASE is the Word of 2014. As a part of this journey I have thrown myself into a project I have attempted to engage with a few times before, running. Not just going for a run, once a week, or twice, and doing a few K. This is all-in, this is gut-busting, this is intense. Step one, marathon training. Come the middle of the year I will be marathon fit. THIS is enough of a project for most people, the aim to run a marathon some time in their life, or to run the same one for a few years and beat down their time somewhat. Following my marathon year of 2014, after a couple of marathon races in the summer and autumn, I will be launching into ultra-marathon training at the end of the year. WHAT is ultra-marathon? Any race longer than a marathon - because that is not hard enough for some, not deep enough, not trying enough, not testing enough. So, come the season of 2015 I will be running races of 30 - 100 miles. After that who knows. There are races up to multi-day 400 miles. RELEASE and running are intricately linked, by 'training' program is a process of daily meditation, a process of activity led mentation. In the fashion of cultures all over the world who engage in running as a process of focusing their meditation and enlightenment practices I am engaging in my running for the internal growth process of expansion of my mind and to learn deeply about myself. The longer the run, the deeper the state of meditation and introspection possible. ULTRA-marathon runners observe that the process is always a battle not with competitors, or a struggle against the clock, it is an internal and mental process, learning to push harder, go further and keep going. The finish line is only part of the journey, not the destination. All points in between, Mile 5, Mile 63, Mile 87, they are all just parts of the journey, and that is how the journey runs and how this record plays out. THERE will be set backs, there will be delays, there will be obstacles. I look forward to them eagerly and hopefully. Running is not dwelling on and being consumed by set backs. Ultra distance running is about embracing and overcoming the odds. It is about overcoming and crushing obstacles. It is about It is about releasing the issues I face on the trail. SO, where will we be taken on this next roller coaster of a journey of a year? Where will I find myself come next winter? How many miles - and how many pairs of shoes, running shorts, jackets and trails - will I have smashed? Only time will tell. I'll see you there. I am off to see how far away my limits are compared to where I once thought they were. ACM Positive Passionate Power-full Performance. New runners for Christmas! Time for some serious trail abuse.
More on the barefoot running phenomena as I learn about it. And more on the status of my poor shoes no doubt!
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AuthorAndy Clubley-Moore: joyful outdoor sports activist, writer, father, husband. Lover of life, activity, success and barefoot living. |