by zippetydude » Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:50 pm
The whole speed thing is just a playful form of doing what you love in a place you love. The first time I ever ran on a treadmill, I thought I had probably been running for about an hour and it turned out to be just over six minutes. When I trail run, I will think to myself that I seem to be making good time since I just started, and it turns out to be an hour has passed. For people who like to run and find the silly foolishness of PR's motivating (yes, I'm one) then a trail run is ideal. I love being out there, I don't really care about the PR, it's just a kooky way of enjoying running, but I really love being in the wilderness. So it lets me combine both experiences. I'm not anywhere near as fast as that guy, but if I were, I would probably want to go give it a try because it's such a beautiful place and such a non-threatening challenge. That last part is important. He didn't win a million dollars or get a Mercedes, so he really had nothing to lose. He just set an informal record that will be broken within a year or two. But he probably had fun doing it, and got to smell the crisp autumn air, got to feel the hollow, almost drum-like thud of his footsteps on the meadow trails through Yosemite, got to feel the satisfaction of physical release as he pressed up long, hard inclines, got to hear the whisper of the wind in the pines and the gentle roar of late season rivers flowing over the rocks...
So, it's kind of about speed, and it kind of has nothing to do with speed, but only with being in a place you love doing a thing you love to do.
z