Daily Chase: Vol. 51

The chase continues, folks. The world continues to be filled with misplaced hate, bigotry, discrimination, terror, and stupidity. Running remains a constant sanctuary. A consistent theme among ultra-runners is the motivation for getting into the sport. Athlete bios are filled with folks who escaped addiction, health issues, depression, and all sorts of other mental and physical concerns. Ultrarunning is a sanctuary for many people. it is a place to retreat from the evils of the world and sort things out for yourself. It’s a place to let your mind wander, to think through your problems, or to not have to think about anything going on in the world around you. In many ways, #chasing42 is all about finding that place where I feel safe to think the thoughts I don’t dare express elsewhere, to try and make sense of a chaotic world, and it continues to be a safe place, and a sanctuary from the chaos that seems to creep in from all sides. Not everyone enjoys running in any form, let alone ultra-running. However, I truly hope that everyone has that sanctuary in some form, and that sanctuary remains sacred. Everyone deserves a place where they feel safe to be themselves, and nobody has the right to take that away. My hope is that no horribly evil act of terror will take that safe place away. Keep running. Keep dancing. Keep #chasing42.

“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen

Chasing42 Log: 20160609-20160615

Run: One of the many benefits of my new position at the University of Delaware is a regular schedule  that allows me to attend several of the Delaware Running Club group runs throughout the week. After more than a year of almost exclusively solo miles, it’s been a breath of fresh air (pun intended!) to regularly run with others! I’ve found myself logging more miles, and pushing my training harder as well, which isn’t surprising, but still quite welcomed. My return to regular track workouts has also made for some interesting transitional experiences. I forgot what that distinctly different sort of pain felt like

Over the weekend, I got in a great 27-miler on Saturday. I was mostly out on the trails, and we were even interviewed for a Delaware Parks promotional video! On Sunday, I tackled more trails and all the hills I could find, and it was the hard workout I had been looking for since straying a bit from them after the Georgia Death Race. I hit the track both Monday and Tuesday this week, and my easy, low-HR workout yesterday evening was definitely necessary. Needless to say, the #runstreak is still alive and going strong.

Thought(s): My running thoughts have been wandering lately as I adjust to a new daily routine and the enjoyably exhausting added mental stimulation that comes with a new work environment. A few things continue to pop up:

1. It’s time to rework my training schedule. I’ve done it in my head but it stresses me out more than it should that I haven’t put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be).
2. After the Voyager 50 at the end of July, I don’t have much of significance on my calendar. I need an A race. Right now, I’m toying with the Cloudsplitter 100 in Kentucky or the Grindstone 100 in Virginia. Both are tough races with some serious vert and would be significant challenges, which is maybe just what I need!
3. My academic/professional life and my running life have remained mainly separate up to this point. However, stories keep popping up that make me wonder if I should be looking for ways to be more of an advocate and ally for the sport. If so, then I have some work to do because there doesn’t seem to be much out there in the feminist and/or multicultural education realm related to running.