runjournal

6/21/18

I get to run by a major league baseball stadium whenever I want. That’s a cool thing, but it is this stadium. I think about baseball every time I pass because how can I not, I have a mild affinity for the game. Most of the people I know can’t stand baseball, and that’s fine. Dana is usually willing to go with me whenever I feel like I need to go. I don’t know, baseball makes me happy, whether we win or lose, and we lose most of the time.

The weather today was really hard to run in. It rained heavily prior to my run, and the curtain of humidity left behind hung in the air the entire time. I can almost feel the thickness of the air when it’s like this. I filled the two flasks only and left the bladder empty so I only had about a quart of water for 10 miles. It turned out to be just enough, but I’ve learned (the hard way) that getting thrifty with water consumption is a recipe for disaster. I need to be able to drink freely without worrying about running out. On the other hand, I also need to be conscious of drinking too much if the potential to do so is there, like in a race for instance, when supplies are abundant. I was fine today, though. Got into an ice cold shower and drank lots of water afterward. Ate some salty foods. Overall, a good effort and a good run in difficult conditions, which will begin to be the rule, not the exception, very very soon. Like next week, or the week after. 10 miles, 10:40 pace.

6/20/18

This is the amount of humidity that was in the air and clinging to my skin when I left on my run. Peat bog, swamp, marsh. I don’t care that there are roads here and that civilization has long been established. This place will always be what it has always been. A big swamp.

Despite the humidity, I had a really fun run today. Continue reading “6/20/18”

6/19/18

This photo was the last one I took before leaving Vermont. The silhouette of Mt. Mansfield is in the background. It’s the high point on the left side.

I took everything I learned from the run on Saturday, where I got super dehydrated and super tired at the end, and applied it to my run today. Continue reading “6/19/18”

6/18/18

When I collected these rocks from Mt. Mansfield, I intended them to be souvenirs for myself and a few others. Maybe not the most memorable keepsake I could offer someone, in hindsight, but when I was up there, it was the perfect token of my affection to bring something from somewhere so beautiful to somewhere else and hand it to someone, to say here, here is a piece of that place and its beauty. I can supplement the recipient’s lack of knowledge about Mt. Mansfield with the photos that I took, but I suppose I think the souvenir, as a gift, lacks self-evidence. You can’t do much with a rock besides look at it and feel its edges, curves, textures. I suppose I dreamt a little too much when I thought of someone taking one of these in their hands and imagining the earth as it was changing and forming mountains. Such thoughts require a great imagination and maybe a little knowledge. I wanted to share my experience because it was engrossing. It isolated and cordoned off my mind so that nothing but essential details were permitted to enter. I wanted to share that feeling which, to me, represents something primal and elemental. I suppose too much. They’re rocks.

I ran today, on a day that’s normally a day off. I didn’t run yesterday because of the travel. 6 miles, about 9 minute pace. Felt loose and strong. I ran in my new shorts. I love my new shorts.

6/16/18

So, after my run today, I came back to the room and got into the jacuzzi tub. The water was really hot and I turned the jets on full blast, thinking it would be great for sore, crampy muscles. I stayed in for about 15 or twenty minutes and it felt so good. Then, I got out and immediately the world started to spin. It was like a really bad version of when you’ve been laying down and you get up too quick. I sat down in the chair they put in the bathroom here for whatever reason. Felt good and stable, my head stopped spinning. Stood up and then, black. Woke up and heard my mom asking if I was okay because there was a crash. I was on my feet somehow, and I answered yes, I was fine. Then I saw blood dripping onto the floor and said, no I’m actually not fine. Continue reading “6/16/18”

6/14/18

These daisies were outside of the Ben & Jerry’s original factory. We went there yesterday and did the tour. Lots of cheesy jokes that I wished didn’t happen and I feel bad for you Olivia, our tour guide. You clearly do not feel comfortable with the speech they have given you to recite, tour after tour, day after day. But, you did your best and for that you should be commended. We were given free samples of Americone Dream, which was a little disappointing because I can get that at 7-11. They have a flavor you can only get at the original factory location called Maple Walnut, maple being the flavor that Vermont puts into everything. We had to try that because most likely, we are not going back to this place ever again, because of the terrible jokes. Maple Walnut was delicious.

I ran pretty hard today. Continue reading “6/14/18”

6/13/18

Miles and miles and miles of this scenery. Even flat miles here in Vermont are keeping me inspired.

With my entire body committed to forward motion at a fairly steady rate of speed, I start to feel like a machine whose operator has dozed off. It becomes more difficult to stop than to continue on. And I know the path ahead will bring me peace, because the path behind me did so. The fly flew into my mouth, and I spit it out.

6/12/18

Amazing day today. Amazing place. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I said to myself that it definitely was the most beautiful place I’d been when I was up there in the clouds, but I really have to think about it now. I’ve been to some beautiful places, so I’ll hold back on giving it the final award. Although the views were spectacular, the majority of the trail was not suited to running, at least for me. I was able to run the first 2 miles. A 2 mile work road leads up to the trail I was starting the climb on. It was significantly steep for me but I got up there with no issue. I ran the last mile as well. It was on the same work road. Everything in between the first two miles and the last mile, I had to power hike.

Here’s why – Continue reading “6/12/18”

6/11/18

Covered bridges are a thing here in Vermont and my mom gets super excited about them. This one is actually functional. We saw a car about to pass through it (cause you can’t really go over it like a normal bridge) and we were a little nervous because it’s made mostly of wood. Wood is strong I suppose. The car passed through, and then another, and another, and the bridge was still standing afterwards. I’m not an engineer, but being inside the bridge, I can tell that the covered part of the covered bridge is structurally important, right? There were all sorts of crossbeams in there holding everything together. Enough.

Today is usually a day off but I ran anyway. Continue reading “6/11/18”

6/10/18

I think I will always be a trail runner first. Then a runner.

I lost the concept of time today out there. I forgot about the job search. I got rid of all the bullshit. Yeah, this happens when I run at home, just not to this degree. I’ve been reading Run Gently Out There by John Morelock, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from emulating Morelock’s style and voice right now. Not only would I fail at his game of botany, ornithology, phenology (a word I learned from him), and poetic prose as one stream of thought, I would be betraying my own style and voice (still in development stages). So, this is turning out to be a paragraph about writing rather than running. And that’s good. Because, I can only use my own two feet to run, as much as I pretend I can run as fast as someone else or as far as someone else. And, I can only use my own words and my own voice to write, all the time keeping in mind those who influence me and inspire me. Right now, everything running and writing is all mixed and tangled together. Like it should be.

I started on the wrong trail. I realized I was on the wrong trail after three minutes, when I didn’t see any white blazes. I’m lucky it only took me three minutes. I backtracked to the trailhead for a clean start and pledged to keep an eye out for white blazes from then on. Continue reading “6/10/18”