Watch The Breath

Watch the breath. Thoughts gather - watch them. Thoughts disperse - watch them. Watch the breath. Repeat as needed. And that my friends is the essence of meditation. The goal is not to seek the absence of thought but to become the witness to the one who is thinking. And even further beyond the witness - to eternal silence. It's there. Waiting. Accessible. We only have to sit - and watch the breath.

Peace,
Eric

This Indeed

Running is prayer. Devotion offered to both ground and sky - steps measured in soulful cadence. The mind churns thoughts yet soon falls still in natures wonder. Harmony in limbs and breath and beat of heart. We are unified in pursuit of distance.
This indeed is why we run.


Peace,
Eric

Better Choices Equal Compassionate Response

One argument I often hear is that vegans believe they are better then meat eaters, that they judge people who eat meat as less compassionate. Maybe some do. I don't think the majority do though - just the opposite in face - the believe they are better than NO being. Hence the refusal to eat them. Perhaps the vegan viewpoint is lost in translation and comes across in a manner that doesn't best serve its purpose. Recently I had an on-line discussion where a person declared that being a vegan doesn't make one a better person. I disagreed. I am a better person. And so would be any meat eater who changed their diet to cruelty free. Please notice that I offered no comparison - I did not say that I am a better person than someone who eats meat - but I am a better person then I was when I consumed animals. See - at a certain point compassion is realized as either including the whole of the universe or nothing at all. Compassion is often confused with selective caring - is it compassion when we care about a mistreated dog, cat or horse and then turn around and eat the flesh of an animal that was tortured in ways best left unsaid? It's not that we're not compassionate beings - we all have the seeds of compassion within us - it's that we largely leave the depth of our concern and care (and empathy) unexplored out of the fear of the changes that would have to occur given the compassionate response to the horrors of modern agriculture. So people practice selective caring - it allows them to feel good about their choices without making any changes. Tragically those choices lead to this continuing -

 The animal above was treated this way for one reason - our appetite. Our every meal is a choice and we can choose compassion. We can choose this instead -


Yet we don't. We refuse to recognize that this takes place for the pleasure of our every meal. That's a choice and it makes the person who chooses this less than the person they could be - less than the person they should be. We need to practice compassion. All the time. In all ways. Especially at meal time.

Peace,
Eric

State Of The Races (For Now)

After much thought I believe that I will put my 10 mile ambitions on hold through the summer season - of course all things are subject to change and this could too if the right race or reason come into play. My thoughts for now will be to focus on CAT and the Labor Pain 12 hour run in September. This will leave me in good standing to try for some faster (for me) fall marathons as well. Early winter will be open for a Florida 100k or 100 miler and then another shot at either C&O or Mohican in the spring. Certain races such as Conestoga and Stone Mill are now standard bearers and are on the ticket unless something comes along to top them - doesn't seem likely. Through it all a return to 100 miles will be playing through my thoughts and my training-  getting stronger, tougher and faster are the priorities training and racing wise. Having fun and staying true to my art are beyond priority - it's life. Thanks for reading!

Peace,
Eric

What's Next?

So what's next? Two shots at 100s and coming up short each time. I've enjoyed the experience of each one so I'm not upset at all with the attempts - still - I want a buckle. Maybe it's not meant to be this year or maybe I need to find the right race. I don't know. I'm tempted top give ti one more shot early this fall. Pine Creek in upstate Pa looks beautiful and promising - not sure about another flat 100 though - they are tough on the body and I will be doing some hill work to prep for CAT in the next few weeks. So I'm giving this some thought and considering options. There's always next year too.
Thanks for reading.

Peace,
Eric

Race Report - Mohican 100 Mile Endurance Run 6/15/13

No doubt about it and no excuses - my legs were not ready to handle the relentless pounding from the hills of The Mohican 100 Mile Endurance Run. It was tough - 14,920 feet of climbing and descent tough. That's roughly the same elevation profile for Leadville and more than Vermont. I think it's about 14,000 feet more then my last 100 mile attempt at C&O 100. Since this wasn't a target race and I had mainly trained for the earlier, flat C&O - I knew that whatever mileage I would get would be a challenge and I was prepared to work for it. And I certainly did - two loops (56.6) and an additional scenic hill climb (more on that) was a full days work.
Race day weather was perfect - started cool and warmed up to the mid 80's with a nice breeze. The course is very shady - being mostly single track - and there was a cool (literally and figuratively) waterfall that offered a natural air conditioning moment.

I ran the first loop at an easy pace - knowing that no matter what mileage I finished at it would be a long day. Things proved a littler harder then expected then when I reached my drop bag at the Covered bridge aid station (mile 15) to find out that out of all the runners my drop bag was the only one to be eaten by a raccoon the night before. Being a vegan and sometimes finding it hard to fine sustaining fuel this was a critical issue. I was trying Perpetuem along with our homemade pinole for the first time in a really long event and it seemed to be working find - but now it was fueling a raccoon who I'm sure was somewhere in the forest running laps. A kindly aid volunteer assured me that I one the prize for being the only one with a raccoon eaten bag and that would have made everything better  - except there was no actual prize - just 12 more miles to my next drop bag. So it was lots of fruit to get me by until then.
Oh, to back track just a bit (literally and figuratively) coming into the Covered Bridge Station we somehow missed the sign for the turn to take us there and continued on the trail (up hill) for at least 2 miles. I knew the station was supposed to be near so grew concerned and soon asked a group of runners who told us we had missed the turn and would need to go back and check in - if it wasn't for the check in I think we might have continued on our way to the next aid station - it was a nasty climb and the thought of doing it again was not appealing (of course that would have delayed the raccoon prize for the second loop) So we backtracked into the aid station to only find out the was no check in for the first loop - I guess we asked some speedier runners who were already on their 2nd loop or maybe they check in just to be on the safe side. Either way we still had that nasty climb again - so we did it.
All I can say about the next few hours can be summed up in two words - beautiful, hilly. I could throw in rocky and rooty two I guess. In fact one section of the trail was nothing but roots -

That's the top section - there was more below.

Everyone seemed to enjoy my raccoon adventure and word quickly spread that there was a runner out there with limited supplies and the volunteers all went out of their way to help. The ultra community is awesome! The pinole has proven to be very sustainable and I have felt the need for less calories although I knew if I didn't consume more it would catch up with me later. I had hoped the Perpetuem would help bridge that gap but I was now out of it - so more fruit at every station. I still felt find until the lat 5-6 miles of the 2nd loop when my left calf grew increasingly painful. I had made up my mind that since this wasn't a "goal' race that I would run as far as I could as long as I was happy. Some events it's worth taking something to see it through  - I thought of taking Motrin to get me through one more loop but in the end - with more races coming soon and maybe another shot at 100 (Pine Creek?) I decided to call it a day and collect my 50+ finishers medal - a really cool offering from the Race Director who told me that anyone making it through 50+ miles on the Mohican Course deserved something. I agree. And so did Moca who toughed it out on sheer will and determination (guts) to collect her medal. I'm not sure there was a tougher runner on the course that day. It was amazing to witness and I'm proud of her as a runner and person.
And that's my Mohican adventure. It's a course that I would definitely like to make a main event and gear a whole season of training towards. Maybe even next year. Until then I'll rest up, do some hiking and started prepping for CAT!
A big thanks to all the volunteers and those hiking the trails who had good words for all the runners - it really makes a difference. And another big thanks for the Race Director and all the hard work and effort that went in to making this such a great event.

Thanks for reading!

Peace,
Eric

Endless

The miles were endless...yet
still my steps continued.

~
Two loops on Mohican -53.6 (not counting addtional 3 miles of misdirection) Not a 100 miler but still happy considering how insanely hilly this course is. I'll be back. Stay tuned for race report!

Peace,
Eric