Michael: Inspirational?

The bones were picked clean;
Leaving the dull white backbone
And wafer thin ribs.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

REI has gotten into the business of making short films about trail running. Given that they’re an outdoor retailer, I’m presuming these films are suppose to inspire a love for the outdoors and trail running in particular. But in preparing for my first 100k, I wish I would’ve deleted that little short from my email.

Yesterday’s inbox brought the story of a 67 year old long time trail runner who loves to train on the San Francisco Bay Ridge trail. The scenery is beautiful and it does make me wonder if I should schedule a long visit to the Bay Area and at least give parts of the 350+ mile trail a go.

But I’m 57, and though I don’t foresee any reason not to be trail running 10 years from now, watching this 67 year old run left me perplexed. He definitely seems to be enjoying himself, but he looks a little slow and hunched over to me. Is that inevitable or is it a by product of his training for ultras?

Science has been telling me for quite a while now that I’m well past my prime and if I ever had a peak, it should now be fading into the distance. But, perhaps Don Quixote like, I want to fight that premise and maintain as much giddy up in my legs as I can for as long as I can. So for many reasons, but for sure because I want to have some snap in my stride, I’m not sure I ever want to put any 100 milers under my legs like the old dude in the REI film.

At the end of the short he also states that he is determined to complete his next 100 miler because he’s dropped out of his previous 3 attempts. Dammit! My record at 50 milers is about 50/50 so going into my first 100k I would’ve been a lot happier if  he would’ve told me that with all of his experience, he was finding his races to be less daunting as he got older.

I’m still confident and enjoy trail running and racing, but REI, your little film isn’t helping.