perfect analogy to ultrarunning

From: Christian Griffith
Date: Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 1:33 PM
Subject: perfect analogy to ultrarunning
To: Ultrapost List


can you relate?
I just got back into town, and I'm rushing around, my wife's rushing me
around, I gotta buy printer ink, I'm sore, easily aggravated, and thinking
about a million different things a minute ...and all at once.

Car stereo's loud, but I'm not listening. Too consumed with a cross between
suburban living and post-race family responsibility catch-up.

As one of many errands, I''m rushing through the busy technology circle,
headed to Office Max... when...

Ducks.

There's a posse of ducks that live on this lake in the middle of technology
circle, and when it rains, they cruise around looking for food (I think),
oblivious to all the traffic and normal goings-on, and just mosey across the
various busy streets in little groups.

Two ducks were crossing the street.

Just a'takin' their sweet ol' time.

One of 'em bent down and pecked at something on the street, found it
interesting, and decided to continue for awhile.

And there I sat, in my giant, gus-hog Excursion, 35 feet away from a
bustling, 55 mph parkway intersection, and frozen in my tracks until the
ducks decided I was going to continue my day.

That simple, momentary and voluntary powerlessness reminds me of how I feel
when I'm ultrarunning.

The stark contrasts I experience between daily life, and spending 12 hours
running in solid rain, through mounds of mud, with weekend friends, is
pretty damn cool.

Ultrarunning is life's interruption - my time to stop and "smell the roses".

The ducks finally moved, and I resumed life's conveyor belt.


--
Christian Griffith

It's harder than you think / It's not as hard as it sounds

March 8, 2009

> I told him that he couldn't; he replied that he KNOWS that he can walk a 15
> minute mile for an "indefinite" period of time.

I have two canned spiels I deliver to people on the topic
of running or walking long distances. The essence of
spiel one is:

It's harder than you think.

The essence of spiel two is:

It's not as hard as it sounds.

Both are equally true statements for most non ultrarunning
people I talk to.

Which one I deliver depends on who it is I'm talking to, and
what their initial reaction to the news is.

Those who react as the person Ollie describes does get
spiel one, followed by appropriate elucidation.

Others who are completely nonplussed by the idea of running
or walking some long distance or time, so much so that they
conclude that either I'm lying or that I must be some kind of
superathlete (or possibly a nut case), when I am in reality one
of the lowliest of the low, get spiel two.

I don't believe I need to explain to members of this group why
both statements are true.