Philosophy - Running - Pre Zumbro

What makes a lion a lion?

   Ferocity, hunter and fearless are a few things that may come to mind. From a survival perspective without food the lion is nothing.

   Learning, failing, succeeding and surviving. Without these vital pieces to the process the lion is nothing more than the once careless grazing gazelle it chases.

   The process. Embracing the process is something I have grown to accept as a part of who I am, how I carry myself on a day to day basis and understand more as I shape my future.

   At a young age I was fortunate enough to learn in order to get what I want and to really appreciate everything I have things do not come easy.

   Without the process I would be just as careless as the gazelle grazing in the field.

A Writing Hiatus Caused By Some Wonderful Winter Running

   Months turn into weeks. Weeks turn into days. Days turn into hours. With less than 24 hours until my first 50 mile run, I'm suddenly stuck with a moment of how far I've really come in my short two years since running my first 5k.

   Throughout the past winter months I have met some incredible people who have helped push me as a runner and for some odd reason, after some thought and many miles in the crippling cold, I decided to sign up for a 50 mile race.

   For some time, I have had the mindset to eventually run an ultra distance race (more than 26.2 miles), but was aiming for a race later in the year, then things changed.

   On a brisk day in January, after hitting the wall at 20 miles, which was my longest run to that date, I still had a daunting 2 miles to run home. Standing in the parking lot with the group I religiously ran with throughout the winter, I took a short rest, made plans for the next days run with them, filled up my water bottle and headed home.

   Sometime during the lonely remaining miles home the thought of signing up for a 50 miler crossed my mind. Perfect timing.

   In regular-weekend-post-20-mile-fashion I instantly laid on the floor and put my legs in the air on the wall, still contemplating this crazy thought of signing up for my first 50 miler.

   After showering, eating and relaxing for a bit I turned to my girlfriend and said, "I think I'm going to sign up for the Zumbro 50 miler".

   "DO IT!" she replied. I was not surprised by her excited response since she has always been supportive in my crazy endeavors. The winter miles were coming along without any problems and I knew I would be ready in a few months if things continued to stay good.

   Soon I filled out all the forms, took a deep breath, entered my registration and shortly after received the confirmation email that I was officially signed up. The next week all I could think about was what the ---- did I just do.

   The feeling shortly subsided and I became slightly obsessed with gathering as much information as I could about the race and what it takes to run an ultra. I read numerous blogs and a few books on ultra running and organized a fun run with numerous ultra runners on the actual Zumbro course.

   I surround myself with as many like-minded and encouraging people as I could. I began noticing a lot of these crazies are just normal, young, old, everyday, family oriented individuals with an unrelenting drive to test their limits.

April. Rain. Snow. Typical Zumbro Fashion
   
   As I prepare for my first 50 mile run I find myself meticulously reviewing my list of essential supplies for what seams like the 100th time.

   For a brief second, out of the corner of my eye on the wall, I notice a quote I live by that helps me on a daily basis, "Go That Extra Mile".

   Written with a red Sharpie and a carefully colored black background outlining the letters, this quote has been around since my college days. Whenever I felt like not studying for a test or if I'm having a tough day for whatever reason, this quote has somehow found it's way of showing up.

   The sound of the rain catches my attention and continues to dance on the streets outside. I take a moment to look out the window as the snow blankets the recent drab brown grass.

   The moon shines through the few passing clouds as if to be a welcoming friend. In a few short hours it will once again be shining it's light over the Zumbro forest.

In a blink of an eye, rain, snow or shine. The wait is over. Zumbro is here.