I’ve been working so much recently. Folks maintain asking me what for. Maybe these aren’t their actual phrases, however it’s the vibe. They wish to know what the miles are pointing towards, what race is developing.
To be trustworthy I don’t have any races on the schedule for the remainder of 2023. Maybe I’ll bounce in a turkey trot over the American Thanksgiving vacation. I really by no means have. It could be a primary for me, and it’s been ages since I’ve raced on the street. And my coaching seems to be removed from that of turkey trots, so what provides?
I’ve a couple of solutions. I inform people who I’m having fun with fall and/or that I’m constructing my base for subsequent yr. I additionally converse of early season race choices and to some, I admit that I’m eyeing up a tough effort throughout the Grand Canyon and again. I suppose that’s what you name a quickest recognized time (FKT) try, though for some cause I really feel sheepish about it.
Of all the reasons I’ve been giving folks, I believe I just like the having fun with fall reply finest. It appears probably the most pure.
You see, one of many biggest issues about working is its means to thrive by itself. Whereas it may be executed in a aggressive context, it doesn’t must be. It will also be executed for health, stress reduction, transportation, and even only for enjoyable. Its worth isn’t rooted in a single particular factor.
A sundown view of the Grand Canyon. All photographs: Zach Miller
Currently I’ve been pondering so much about working and the place I want for it to take me subsequent yr. Extra particularly, I’ve been serious about what I wish to race. Just a few weeks in the past, I felt fairly strongly that I wished to return to UTMB. Simply as I used to be feeling pretty snug with that potential choice, I — and what looks like the remainder of the path working world — discovered of a new UTMB World Sequence occasion that will take over an occasion area beforehand occupied by the Whistler Alpine Meadows occasion, placed on by Coast Mountain Path Operating, in Whistler, British Columbia.
The information of this taking place brought about fairly a bit of shock amongst the path working group. To make a protracted story brief, folks felt that Whistler Alpine Meadows had been unfairly pushed out and changed by a lot bigger, company entities, one in every of which being the UTMB World Sequence that’s affiliated with UTMB, in fact. As I discovered of and analyzed the state of affairs, I struggled with realizing what to do.
On one hand, I actually wished to run UTMB. However, I used to be involved that the UTMB World Sequence group is likely to be behaving in a approach that went towards my morals. Abruptly, one thing so simple as deciding what to race appeared much more complicated. However don’t fear, this text is much less about what occurred between Whistler Alpine Meadows and the UTMB World Sequence, and extra about what I spotted within the aftermath.
As I’ve been processing what occurred between Coast Mountain Path Operating and the UTMB World Sequence, I’ve continued to spend so much of day trip on the paths. I’ve run to the depths of the Grand Canyon and to the best level in Arizona. I’ve seen lovely sunsets and run beneath darkish, desert skies. I’ve cruised alongside the Tonto Path, marveling at the great thing about the Grand Canyon and feeling that uncommon sense of untamed awe. I’ve plunged deep into the canyon on the North Kaibab Path and powered my approach again out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, feeling the rhythm and energy of my physique as I went.
The Tonto Path, under the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
In doing these items, I’ve realized one thing. These moments are the essence of the game. Certain, races are enjoyable. They offer us an goal and a approach to check ourselves. They, nonetheless, are only one piece of the puzzle, and never even a crucial piece at that.
Even when all of the races ceased to exist, we’d nonetheless have working. We’d have the facility in our legs and the breath in our lungs. We’d have the mountains to climb and canyons to cross. We’d have sunrises, sunsets, and starry skies. We’d have the flexibility to marvel how far and how briskly we might go and the means to seek out out. We’d have pleasure, awe, and marvel. We’d have drained legs and overflowing hearts.
We’d have all these items and a lot extra as a result of they don’t depend on a race, a corporation, or a coverage.
And so, as the game of path working continues to develop, I’m optimistic. Optimistic not simply because I believe it might probably develop and develop in a optimistic course, but in addition as a result of even when the competitors aspect of the game throws some challenges our approach, what it’s at its core can nonetheless stay.
The problem, the wonder, and the awe received’t stop to exist. We’ll all the time have the ability to take to the paths and discover these bits of gold. We will ceaselessly be, having fun with fall.
Name for Feedback
Would you continue to discover pleasure in working if there have been no races to coach for?
