Dirty Inspirations

I’ve become increasingly obsessed with Expedition Bhutan planning. The long hours of computer work, research, reading, emails and lengthy conference calls seem to feed my passion for this unique project and country. I realized while lying in bed last night negotiating too many spinning thoughts, that besides writing a book, researching and writing my thesis, and being a professional triathlete (ok I guess those are pretty big ‘besides’) – this could be the biggest project I’ve taken on to date. I couldn’t be more pleased. I’m at my best under pressure and when I immerse myself in creativity in an expansive way – trying to birth something soulful from nothing. And yet there is never nothing to start with is there? Because passion is a pretty huge ‘something’

But the main theme that keeps surfacing for me on this project is the requirement of partnerships, teams and connections. I tend to fly like a lone wolf in most I do but also believe that we are interdependent beings (yes, an oxymoron). So this project requires my in depth work with others and I am challenged and enriched by that requirement.

Here’s a brief update on the more recent ‘somethings’ happening with Expedition Bhutan:

• EXPEDITION ROUTE: After extensive research we completed our Route Option 1 (its current name) and have submitted it to our partners in Bhutan for approval. In short – this country will be awesomely challenging to meaderingly-traverse. We are asking to move through 4 major areas where non-Bhutanese aren’t allowed to go, so we are keeping our fingers crossed we’ll get approval. Once we have a route finalized (at least until we get there and need to change it up again we’ll detail it for you on the Bhutan map on our website so you can check it out. Thus far Route Option 1 involves LOTS of trekking and mountain biking and a little bit of rafting or kayaking (and a serious amount of elevation gain and loss).
• YOU CAN JOIN!: Due to significant interest in our expedition we’ve
  

  Views from the Jhomalhari Trek

  decided to offer supporters of Expedition Bhutan an opportunity to travel to Bhutan and be part of our expedition for a short bit on the front end (western Bhutan). Join us! One support option will include our initial 9-day trek on the Jhomalhari route plus a few extra touring days in country – while 2 other support options involve 6-days in country trekking or touring as well as spending time with the Team on either the front end or back end of our Jhomalhari Trek. We are finalizing this info for you now! If you are interested in being on the email list to get that info first hand send me your email address – terri@terrischneider.net and I can send you info as soon as its up on our site (participation will be limited).

• OUR FILM: Though our ideas and thoughts are rich on our vision of a film, we have no idea how to go about creating this in such a rare and unique venture! So we’ve been up to what any self respecting seeker would do – we’ve been talking to a lot of people and gathering info and experts. Thus far we have an award winning camera man on board and some really solid additional contacts. On many levels this expedition feels like coming full circle in my life as an extreme athlete, a thinker and a seeker. Joining physical duress and adventure in one of the ripest geographical, cultural and spiritual backdrops on the planet is rich ground indeed for some substantive sharing via film. My vision of a potential film is very clear – we are looking for the right herd of people to produce such a vision.

Note: if you have anyone in mind for film work or info on such things please contact us with your thoughts!

• THE RACE: Our partners in Bhutan have commissioned us to create a race for them in Fall of 2012. They want to support their vision of Bhutan as a place to experience extreme sports. So we are working on that as well! Right now its looking like a 4-day running stage race (with a shortened hiking option). Details will not be forthcoming for a while but if you are interested in staying in touch with this option, send me your email address and I’ll keep you posted! (terri@terrischneider.net)

Whew!

We’d love to hear from you on the above if you have any ideas or support options. Join our Facebook page and tell your friends. I’ll be back at you soon.

Terri

Welcome to Expedition Bhutan!

Quite a few years back while doing some initial research on Bhutan I became intrigued with this tiny nation’s intangible benchmark for success—Gross National Happiness (GNH). With Bhutan long residing on my ‘must experience’ list, my intrigue turned to mild obsession as I began a several year process of sorting out how I could intricately and thoroughly explore this land. Most people I’ve chatted with about Expedition Bhutan have never even heard of this place let alone that it is located on the eastern end of the Himalayan mountain range next to its famous neighbor, Nepal. But for a few of us gripped with exploring GNH in a stunning location, Bhutan’s mystical persona packs a Texas sized punch.

My initial plan was to cross the country solo on foot followed by the ‘escort’ and crew mandatory per Bhutan’s tourist regulations. But I found out quickly that to experience The Dragon Kingdom thoroughly while creating a quality film of the experience, I would need to develop a team.

Coming from individual sports into adventure racing I realized that some of our greatest moments sprout when we finally get that we are never really in “it” alone. That by easily accepting our interdependence we can gain the latitude to step up our individual game—exponentially. And we can then focus on supporting the greatness of the team collective. So in this light and with the good fortune of knowing some super bright and really tough people, I’m psyched to say I’ve ‘hired well’. These guys play big. Lucky me (and lucky you).

Meet the Team!

• Greg Thomas and I met 20 years back through excessive training hours while doing triathlon before we both jumped head first into the sport of adventure racing. He has been a brother ever since. No matter what kind or how much time has passed, Greg is always present in his quiet, intelligent, successful, caring manner. Powerful yet unassuming. Incredibly tough and equally sensitive Greg is game for any adventure thrown down and always engages meticulously for the betterment of the team.
• In addition to days on end of backpacking, running, swimming and climbing together Tony Lillios and I have closed down our share of restaurants and coffee shops during intensely curious conversation. Over the years as I’ve quietly (or not so quietly) supported Tony’s expansion of his physical game, he’s always responded by exceeding all expectations. While thriving in creating something big from nothing, Tony is as playful and enthusiastic as he is humbly brilliant. And I never stop learning about him and about myself through our interactions.
• My background with David Ferris includes a long list of physical endeavors; peak bagging around the world, backpacking, running, and adventure racing. But what I covet even more about David is that he is thorough, engaging and a refreshingly open thinker. Though he is highly adaptable, talented, easy going, and a stellar conversationalist and tent mate when stuck in a tiny space at altitude in a blizzard, I am more so intrigued by David’s uncanny ability to stare off into space for extended periods of time.

Besides being interesting and curious as well as having particular skill sets, another gauge for knowing I’ve hired well for a long and tough expedition, is when a teammate is—hesitation-less. After ONE conversation about my expedition idea with each of these men. They signed on. Bingo!

Thanks to James Fitzgerald of Bhutan Ventures, our team will be partnering with the Bhutan Olympic Committee for in-country sponsorship. We’re excited to develop our relationship with these groups.

But the ongoing test of affirming I have formed a stellar team is when each teammate continually asks me to raise the bar for what I (and they) can offer the team and its mission. These guys have asked me the big questions from Day 1: “What is the question this expedition is looking to answer?”, “Blue sky thinking—how would the making of our film play out?”, “What companies can we partner with who will support and mutually embody the persona of Happiness?”.

So by bringing together a few big thinkers plus a quiet and supportive group from the reputed happiest nation on the planet, we are looking to offer YOU a powerful virtual experience; prior to, during, and after our journey. Over the next several months we’ll be planning and sharing our expedition on our website blog and our Facebook page, looking for companies to partner with, interviewing film makers, and solidifying our relationship with the country of Bhutan. All the while pondering and discussing the concept of Gross National Happiness.

We’d love for you to virtually join our team!

What is happiness in your day to day life? What would National Happiness look like in America, in your State or your neighborhood? Is it possible to quantify Happiness? We want to hear from you.

Join our team. Check out our Facebook page and our website. Come along on our journey—lets explore together.

Back at you soon,

Terri Schneider

Tapering before a race is as important as training. It allows you to set yourself up for your best performance by resting your body and your mind and eliminating any cumulative fatigue gathering during the building of your training. The length and amount of your taper will depend on how fit you are coming into your taper and how important the race is to you. If you have a solid base of fitness and have been generally keeping to your training plan, think in terms of a fourteen- to sixteen-day taper. If your training has been haphazard, you will want to continue to integrate short bouts of positive training stress into your program up to nine to eleven days prior to your race.

If you are preparing for an A race, maximize your taper time for optimal rest and recovery–lean toward a twelve- to fifteen-day taper. If your upcoming race is important but more of a fun race or a training race (B or C), then your taper can be shorter, or you can decide to train through the event and eliminate a taper altogether. The longer your event, the longer your taper (up to three weeks from an Ironman). This is under the assumption that if you have done proper longer training for a longer event that you need more time to subdue your cumulative physiological and muscular fatigue from many hours of training.

All taper programs will include a change in total training volume, frequency, and intensity, but remember that it is usually better to do a bit less volume than too much. Don’t get greedy–don’t panic train! Your training adaptation is done at this point and trying to force a higher training effect this close to an event will only hurt your race effort. If you want to train more because you think it will psychologically help you in your event–let go of that thought. It will only make you more tired on race day.

* For a ten- to fourteen-day taper, cut your initial volume by 30 to 50 percent, leaning toward 50 percent in the latter part of your taper.

* On the front end of a two- to three-week taper, maintain frequency of workouts per week while cutting back on the duration of each workout.

* During the last week of your taper, cut frequency and duration by 50 percent.

* For a two- to three-week taper, maintain intensity in your workouts while decreasing duration of higher intensity bouts.

* Even in your last week of taper, maintain very short duration intensity bouts (up to 1 minute) while cutting duration and frequency.

Enjoy the extra time you have during your taper! This is an excellent time to look back on all of the positive work you’ve done and spend your extra time getting your mind ready for your race effort.

It is common to have occasional days of moderate to heavy fatigue, but if it lasts for a week or more, you may need to re-evaluate your training process and your lifestyle choices to eliminate the possibilities of overtraining. If left unattended, overtraining can lead to burnout and injury–two predicaments that are much more extensive than overtraining. Looking at the causes and symptoms of overtraining can help you to avoid this situation.

Areas in your training process that can cause overtraining:

* Inadequate (passive and active) recovery within weekly training

* Inadequate decrease in volume and intensity of training within periodized recovery week (third or fourth week) as well as inadequate passive and active recovery within this week

* Too much overall volume of training or too quick of an increase in volume

* Too much intensity of training or too quick of an increase in intensity

* Too many race efforts

* Striving for unrealistic goals in training or racing

* Failure to adjust training process to lifestyle stresses

* Increase of training too quickly coming off some downtime (i.e., off-season or injury)

• A training program that lacks enjoyment and fun

Areas in your lifestyle that can cause stress and result in overtraining:

* Perpetually rushing around

* Lack of routine

* Lack of adequate sleep

* Not enough recovery or relaxation time

* Imbalance in diet including inappropriate carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake; inadequate water intake; inadequate vitamin and mineral intake; excessive alcohol, caffeine, or simple sugar intake

* Poor living or interpersonal conditions including unhealthy surrounding; regular conflict with family, coach, friends; unhappiness in relationships; not enough time alone

* Poor work conditions including regular conflict with co-workers, too much work, unhappy with job or career

* Excessive travel

• Exposure to sick children or co-workers, as well as asthma, allergies, and all illnesses

Psychological symptoms of overtraining:

* Feeling indifferent about your training and life

* Mental lethargy

* Mood disturbances such as irritability

* Poor focus

* Frustration

* Inability to accept that you are overtrained

* Decreased self-esteem and self-confidence

* Change in interaction with others

Physical symptoms of overtraining:

* Altered sleeping patterns

* Excessive craving of water or sugar or significant change in appetite

* Consistent or excessive fatigue

* Consistent muscle soreness

* Increased or persistent illness, injury, infection, swollen lymph glands

* Morning heart rate changes

* Performance change including an inability to work at usual intensity levels during training or racing

* Amenorrhea

* Decreased libido

* Change in body weight

You may glance at these lists and say, “I have some of those symptoms right now!” It is common to experience some of these challenges, especially during build phases of training. You may feel tired one day, crave sugar the next, and lose a bit of sleep a couple days later. It is common for your morning heart rate to increase after strenuous training efforts. You do need to ride an edge of peak training weeks during the crux of your build in order to gain the maximum benefit, but the key to riding that edge is to do it infrequently and for short periods of time. That would mean that for one week or a few days out of a four-week cycle, you may feel considerably on edge.

The key to deciphering whether you are experiencing regular training stresses or overtraining is to note the duration and quantity of your symptoms. If you are experiencing several symptoms over a period of ten days or more, you are most likely overtrained. Back off immediately! Take one or two recovery or rest days before you get to this point and notice if you bounce back. If you ignore the signs and forge ahead with your training, you may put yourself into a deficit that will take many weeks to recover from.

One of the most significant challenges in your training process is knowing when to push and when to back off. Your training log can help you become more in tune with how you are feeling mentally and physically. Look for patterns. Be honest. Listen to your body. Write down your observations. Your body communicates with you in the form of fatigue, hunger, pain, and so on. If you listen, you can keep yourself on the positive side of that training edge and go to your events primed and healthy to race. If not, you may head into the vortex of burnout.

When a running race is set in as spectacular a setting as Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos, the experience outcome for a whole lot of veteran and newbie trail runners is predictable – epic! Even if we took away the challenging single track sections, the tough climbs, steep descents, multiple creek crossings  and all the great good at the finish line – we’d still have a lovely trot through a spectacular redwood forest, on dirt, and that would be… just enough.

Thanks to all participants for making this event memorable and for all of your continued amazing feedback these past couple days! Here’s what a few participants had to say about their experience in the woods this year:

“I have run over 20 races in the last 2 years and this course was, if not my favorite, close to it!!!”

“It was a wonderful balance of single trail, fire roads and rolling hills. The river crossings were fun!”

“The location is hard to beat…”

“I love trails and getting dirty is a passion I am passing on to my daughter who ironically loves water!… I am an individual who feels strongly about nature (mother) and that we all need to tread lightly but tread nonetheless…. My daughter, nearly 4, asked if she could get dirty and run with me one day. This event has inspired me to do just that keep trail fit so we can run together.”

“This is by far the most beautiful and inspirational half I’ve ever done and I’ve done it both years.  It’s like a Fairy Tale run – going deeper and deeper into the forest.  I felt like Snow White.”

“I’m definitely looking forward to next year and plan to drag more ladies with me through the dirt! Truly inspiring day!”

In the end we give credit to all of the incredible volunteers, the pro race announcing of Eric Gilsenan, the precision organization of Penni and Tim at Finish Line Productions, or all of the top notch support from our sponsors, BUT in Dirty races, Mother Nature will always take center stage for a humans excellent experience. She’s just that good.

Continue to Get Dirty and Get Inspired! We’ll see you out on the trails…

In an era of digital games, childhood obesity and more text messages sent by young people than I could venture to count, I’m pleased to see that end of Feb/March is shaping up to offer me (and you!) multiple opportunities to stir young people to get outside.

• One of my sponsors – Mountain Hardwear’s is back with their Send a Kid to Camp campaign. For every click on the “Send a Kid to Camp” button found at www.mountainhardwear.com/givesback.aspx Mountain Hardwear will donate $1 to the cause, up to $40,000.  You can and should come back each day until April 15^th and click the button until they’ve reached their goal!
• On Friday, March 19 from 7-9 PM at Simpkins Swim Center, Santa Cruz County Parks is offering A Night of Inspiration for adult athletes. All proceeds from this evening will go toward providing scholarships to children for summer camps and swim lessons. I’ll be one of the presenters at this evening so come by and say hi for a great cause! More info here – http://www.scparks.com/pdfs/night%20of%20inspiration%202010.pdf
• Ann Krcik of  http://www.ExtremeConnection.net will be presenting at the University of Wyoming on the topic of:  “Using the Outdoors to Summit in Your Career”. She asked me and other Extreme Connection speakers to offer some sage advice for college students. Here’s what I came up with:

“Be in the outdoors regularly in order to gain ‘advise’ on what you might want to be in the outdoors. Playing, working, moving, hanging in the outdoors frequently offers us a chance to be in a medium that is indifferent to who or what we or others think we are. Nature does not care about the style of your hair, the brand of your shoes or how many friends you have on Facebook. This indifference offers a clean slate from which to create an authentic essence of who you can, are or wish to be. Nature has no agenda for you, you are required to create it for yourself. If we engage with nature frequently we are giving ourselves freedom from a contrived definition of self and over time we can truly see who we are and what our passions might be. Strip away everything man made, and you might be able to catch a glimpse of what truly drives you.” – TS

• I’ll be heading to Idaho in March as well, to inspire students with an interest in technology to ‘Do Amazing’ – using an outdoor based message.

If you know of any upcoming opportunities to inspire a kid to get out let me know and I will post them here and on my Facebook wall.  Get Inspired!!

When coaching athletes on self-talk, I encourage them to come up with a word or phrase that may help in keeping them present to their physical effort. Examining our self-talk properly can be a complex experience that takes time and practice while involving our sight, physical and emotional feelings, other sensations, and thoughts. Or, it can be a simple, playful intellectual slap on the face. Something like, “stay with me, relax for speed.”

After years of studying and practicing this type of mental focus in my own training and racing I’ve gotten pretty good at sharpening my mind at will, conjuring appropriate self-talk words or phrases in a flash, or kindly reprimanding myself for straying without placing value judgment on my disruptive thoughts. Racing can mentally be very logical and functional if you are willing to accept your fate on that day (or days), then hunker down and make the best of it, especially if one is comfortable being in discomfort.

But despite my ability to remain relevant in the face of desert heat, high winds, pouring rain, snow and pain—finding that elusive headspace in the office has never been as easy. 

It  could be because; when I am sitting at my computer I most often would rather be moving, or, that the emotional grind of surfing my favorite sites to catch up on the difficult world news can create internal angst, but I think for the most part its because I’ve trained my brain for many years to cope well with forward movement through nature and have not ‘trained’ for the mental rigors of day to day human living—until recently.  

I figured if I can stay present to my purpose with swollen, blistered feet I should be able to learn to suffer the sometimes tedious effects of organized work. So to help my cause I’ve been working on lots of types of sitting mediation (among other things) and last night we learned how to insert tiny meditations into our day with intermittent 10-15 second breath focus. One of the goals is to simply ‘Add spice to our day’. I can always deal with loads of spice and these are so fun and easy that I thought I’d share the great info! Here’s how it works:

Sit in a chair, feet on the ground, posture tall but relaxed and comfortable, eyes lightly closed. Let your breathing be relaxed and natural but as you breathe keep your focus on your breath ONLY. Don’t force the breathing, but when you do inhale be aware than you are inhaling and when you exhale, be aware that you are exhaling. Allow your focus to remain only on your breath for 10-20 seconds. After a very brief time and before your thoughts start to play in your head again, take your last aware breath, open your eyes and get on with your day. Do it again in an hour. And then again.

This is in some ways is the same manner in which we train in sport to control our head chatter (except there is more dialog involved and we are moving and in discomfort) – “relax for speed”, or in this case, “breathe for focus”. The result for practicing in both moving and sitting is a calm, yet laser focused mind, open to all tasks at hand, accepting, decisive. So if we slow down for a moment a few times a day our brain can actually work longer at warp speed and at will. The idea in both sport and work is that if we stop trying so hard and the results will happen.

Sprinkle this spice of calm focus into your day today and onward and you might even notie that “relax for speed” will happen a bit more quickly on your next run as well. Let me know how that goes! Namaste.

In acknowledgment of my 10-months-of-not-running-anniversary this week I’ll be seeing my sports med. doc for a re-evaluation of the Achilles tendon injury that took me out of a race in Antarctica last year, and, hauling 60 lb loads of water up a remote trail. Since I’m not someone who connects with gratuitous optimism, and I downright cringe when I hear intelligent folks say things like, “Everything will be just fine,” or, “It could be much worse,” I’m certain I’ll swallow what will be at the doc’s. Being a definitive realist I’m guessing that its not ready yet. But the big plans I have for when it is ready have me playing all those funny little games of the walking wounded.

I have been testing the waters with a bit of jogging here and there, hiking, and backpacking (don’t tell my doc I climbed a mountain). Though I am pragmatic in addressing injuries, training and racing, I am an athlete in love with trails. Doesn’t any and all sort of love make even the most resolute athlete tip the practicality scales now and then?

Injured athletes convince themselves they are healed when they are not. On what feels like a “good” day, they will do a little impromptu trot across the parking lot to their car, overstretch or over-strengthen the area to see if it will hold up to the stress (or because they are pissed off at the injury), and of course, they do the daily body check of the injured part immediately upon waking. We wake up and our subconscious mind goes immediately to the injured spot (unless something else is hurting). We move it around a bit and convince ourselves it feels different. Today, it feels better, doesn’t it? Then we ultimately get up, don our cycling clothes and head out for another non-running activity. Though optimistic, 10 months later we are still leaving our bed each morning, dissatisfied.

This week in honor of my anniversary and my love for trails (an oxymoron) I have been hauling 60 lb loads of water up onto a remote aid station for the Dirt Inspires Women’s Trail Half Marathon. I initiated this race 10 months ago while declaring – “If I can’t run on trails I want to support other women in running on trails!” With lots of work and 300 registered runners later we’re on for Aug. 30^th. I would not wish my injury on anyone but since this super cool race is a result of my demise there will be a celebration in order on the 30^th—for the runners, especially the new trail racers. That feels good.

What also feels great is hauling 60 lb loads of water up a tough trail (after waking up dissatisfied). I’m pretty certain I was a pack mule in a past life or I am heading in that direction. Hard work feels nurturing to this sturdy body. Perhaps “everything will be ok,” or, “it could be a lot worse,” but right now hard work will do the trick until I can lighten the load and move a bit faster.

See you on race day!

Terri

(Note: The doc actually said my leg is looking quite good! – better than expected given the severity of my injury. I’m cleared to start doing more than an impromptu jog (a bit more). I think I’ll haul a few more jugs of water tomorrow in celebration .

Upon returning from crewing at Western States 100 this past weekend I revisited – again – the “why’s” of 100 milers. So I dug up some old thoughts on this topic that happen to still ring true… and most likely will for you…

(from July ’05)

For an experienced ultra-runner, pacing another runner in a 100 mile trail race is like being a fly on the wall of one’s own chosen abyss of suffering. I had yet another opportunity to experience that genre of voyeurism in the Vermont 100 two weeks ago. My friend and training partner, Kevin, signed up for this race as his first 100 and asked me to escort him the last 32 miles to the finish.

The concept of “pacing” a runner in a 100 mile race was conceived as a means to keep a compromised and late-in-the-game delusional, athlete safe during the literal and emotional darkest sections of an event. Since those who run 100 milers frequently enter challenging altered states and severe bouts of physical and psychological discomfort, pacing was designed as a way to guide a runner to his destination while lowering the incidence of face plants, passing out on the trail and choking on one’s own vomit, wandering off trail into a void, and therefore not making it safely to the finishline. I summarized pacing to my rookie Western States pacer this year as, “I am the drunk person at the party who is trying to have a good time, and you are the designated driver. Your job is to keep me safe so I can party on.”

The pacer makes sure the runner is eating and drinking properly, she encourages the runner in his labored efforts to run and helps keep the body and mind moving forward positively. The pacer constantly negotiates silence and what she should say to the runner in a “walking-on-egg-shell-type” relationship in which verbal expression is carefully planned and executed.

Pacing is sort of like a mini adventure race except that one of the teammates is really messed up and the other is fresh, and the two only go as fast as the messed up one can manage. If the pacer is fit, she sees the experience very clearly, can multi-task easily, and keep pace without effort.

A pacer will escort the runner for 30, 40, or 50 miles+. This distance depends on the difficulty of the course and, therefore, when a runner is expected to hit sunset. Strange things happen for runners when the lights go out. Pace slows, perceptions change, motivation can wane and most definitely decision making is altered. In an otherwise crazy moment in a runners race, the pacer can become the voice of reason and calm during that last stretch of darkness and/or sunrise to the finish line.

For an experienced ultra-runner, pacing is like looking in the mirror of ones own usual race condition and the reflection most often isn’t pretty. As with most all 100 mile racers, Kevin struggled a bit and then a lot the last 20 miles of his race. He grew sullen, he had fits of temper, laughter and frustration, he ran courageously and solidly, he walked with difficulty and through it all he pressed on. I watched in fascination the expected demise of an otherwise strong and capable athlete. 100 miler’s reduce humans to a throbbing mono-focus and the pacer gets to take it all in with enthrallment.

The pacer observes this odd spectacle and asks, yet again, why she herself chooses to partake in this nature of difficulty. And somehow through the ache she sees something bright and worthwhile. She sees the rawness of the person, the undercoat, the warrior, the peeled away layers of self. And she realizes that this type of exposure could very well be the authenticity that eludes most people in life—the epiphany of who we truly are. A 100 mile race is a personal measurement of success that is very honest and pure. Perhaps the rawness of the human, striped down to nerves and blood and emotion is the genuine essence of self. And through the dirt and the sweat it all seems simply worthwhile and unavoidable for those who chose to live in a world of ambiguity and challenge.

Post race, I asked Kevin what was different in this race from other Ironmans or 50 milers in which he had participated. He said it was this raw pain. During and post race, he had experienced a unique and novel means of suffering. A unique and novel means of tapping into depth—a primitiveness. For him it was an affirmation of who he was as an athlete. And just a couple weeks post race—he’s already planning the next challenge. Amen.

gorgeous summit day in ’05!