Month: August 2020

I have always been told that all good stories should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I barely remember the beginning of this story.  I feel like I have been in the middle of it for months because I have.  Now I am not sure how to process it as I approach the end. This morning I completed mile 990 of a 1,000-mile challenge. I am tired yet energized; excited but sad; hopeful and then again depressed. It seems like I am on that final lap of a 100-mile race when you have all the feels. The letdown always comes when you start back out on mile 101. That is what I am trying to avoid.

So far, it has been more than 1.8 million steps; 500,000+ calories; 1,594 kilometres; 990 miles; 114 days; 17 audio-books; 8 fewer pounds; 4% less body fat; and 3 pairs of shoes since I started the first journey back on May 1st.  I added a second race three weeks later that was supposed to happen concurrently and eventually would supersede the first one.  Then, the organizers gave me an option to stretch the first race even further.  Tomorrow, those two long journeys collide with another (much shorter) journey, and they will ultimately will culminate at the same finish line. A Triple Lindy of sorts. When I cross the finished line tomorrow, I will have finished the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000 Mile Race, The Run Forest Run 717 Mile Virtual Race, and a ridiculously hard 10.5-mile Ridge to Blazing Ridge all at the same time. During the last week, I have had to remind myself that all good things come to an end. But this not the end, it is the beginning of something else.

I have spent the last week dwelling on this point as I have continued ticking the miles away. It’s to the point where people around me are asking what am I going to do when these challenges finally end. That is a great question.  In the past, I just have stopped cold turkey and taken multiple months to start back. However, the numerous miles have dominated my life for the last several months, creating a kind of safety blanket insulating me from a very chaotic world. No matter what has been going on in my professional or personal life, I have had miles to go before I could rest. I have slept better, kept the weight off, and my mind feels a bit sharper. I do not think stopping is the wise option.

The reality is that the miles will slow down.  I have friends out there who have no problem covering 300 miles a month or just 7 miles a day, every day. That is just not me. I still have movement goals out there, and I am less than two months out from the real race I have been training for: The Endless Mile. My older brother has chided me over the last several years because I have not trained properly for that race.  My best result was effectively a Couch-to-200k in less than three months in 2018. I still need to write that story to tell people what “not” to do, or if they are going to be stubborn, how to get it done. This year, I have already knocked out more than 1,200 miles of total training including many miles in the brutal summer heat. My body’s rhythm is as effortless in its glide at the 3-mile mark as it is as at mile 30. I am ready now, but I need to be ready two months from now. Either way, my older brother will get his wish! But what comes next?  I am not entirely sure, but I have two months to figure it out. All I know for certain is that this is not the end. Now, it’s time to go find that finish line…