Birthday Lessons: 10 Relearned Trail Running Tips

Keep Running!

In 2008 I ran the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon was not on my Bucket List, because I did not think it a legit possibility. But thanks to the high altitude of Grants, NM, a loving wife, and a decent threshold for pain I experienced one of the greatest races on earth. I found myself in a 27,000-member pack of some of the the world's most avid recreational runners.

As I pounded the 26.2 miles of pavement, I covered the exact course of running's greatest athletes: Ryan Hall, Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar. I traced the same asphalt field as Team Hoyt and even ran a couple of miles next to Lance Armstrong. Elite athletes, movie stars, paraplegics, housewives, Africans, Americans, Chinese, Christian, Muslim, atheist, old, young...but all with the same goal and same dream. In 2008, Boston did what it always does, what only a handful of earthly experiences can do - transcend generational, gender, national, religious, cultural, and political boundaries.

Boston IS a celebration of life, of hard work, of the freedom of running, of perseverance, and of unity. So...as I watched Monday's events unfold on my computer screen - the attack on beauty, courage and the good of the Human Spirit - I was devastated!

Terrorism: the use of TERROR, often violence, as a means of coercion! 

 Monday's attack struck terror in the hearts of millions around the world. For some the terror is all too real; it has changed their life forever. Such heinous acts intend to impregnate society with fear, to make you question and doubt...

• Maybe I won't run Boston next year.
• Maybe I will pull out of my next marathon.
• If running is not even safe, then...
• Maybe I shouldn't send my kids to school.
• Perhaps I should rethink that trip to...

Terror intends for you to pull back, stop, give up, hesitate, to play it safe! The best response to terror is "No!" - to not let it in, to not let it move one inch further than Monday. The best response is to do the very thing that terror intends to steal.

So...

KEEP RUNNING! 

Keep lacing up the shoes. Keep clicking off the miles. Keep pounding the pavement. Keep tracing the trails. Keep downing the Gatorade. Keep playing the iTunes. Keep carbo-loading. Keep registering for 5K's, 10Ks, halfs, fulls, and ultras! Make a decision today to get off the couch and start training for your first mile. Keep running!

I will keep running! Today I registered for a half marathon on April 27th. I'm dedicating this run to Boston and to the families scarred by Monday's events. No,  running a race cannot undo what has been done. It cannot heal the broken hearts. It cannot fill the loss. It cannot fix anything, but it is my simple way of saying "No" to terror! In 1.5 weeks I'll lace up the New Balance. On one leg I will write "4 Boston" and on the other "Keep Running!"

KEEP RUNNING!

I Run

January 1, 2012, 54 degrees and sunny... I run.

• I run because I can.
• I run because one day I can't.
• I run because of the its rhythm.
• I run because of my past.
• I run for my future.
• I run because there are no mountains.
• I run because of the mountains.
• I run because there are no refs.
• I run because there are no rules.
• I run because there are no sidelines or "out of bounds."
• I run because there are skyscrapers.
• I run to feel the sun on my face.
• I run to shower in the rain.
• I run because of Ryan Hall.
• I run because of the 300 pound guy who gets off the couch determined to run his first mile.
• I run to escape.
• I run to reflect.
• I run because without a language or creed I join a brotherhood of Kenyans, Chinese, South Africans, Brazilians, and the native chasing his food in the remote jungle.
• I run to sweat.
• I run to feel the cold sting on my ears.
• I run to the beat.
• I run because it is a good friend.
• I run to cry.
• I run with a smile.
• I run because gas will reach $4.
• I run because it is free.
• I run because of 9 to 5.
• I run because it's my body telling me, "You ARE ALIVE!"
• I run in 2012.