Surviving another one

Welcome Adam Casseday as the second follower on my humble blog.  Although Adam is from the Elkins area and we both have many interests in common, I did not have the pleasure of meeting him until a few years ago in Cooke City, Montana.  Adam is a fly fisherman in addition to being an endurance runner.  He and I hiked into some back country mountain streams in the Northeast quadrant of Yellowstone NP.  First goal was to avoid "tourons" and the second goal was to enjoy the solitude of the Rocky Mountain high country while catching wild Cuthroats.  I have to confess, Adam ran every morning before we hit the trail head.  The hikes in and out of the back country were workouts in their own right, but Adam made me feel like a slug for not running too.

At any rate, while I was finishing up a 12 miler in the Otter Creek Wilderness on Saturday, I glanced up the trail and another runner was approaching me.  It was Adam and we stopped and chatted for a while.  We talked about the Highlands Sky and trail running in general.  I have been plagued with falls on many of my trail runs, but Adam told me he had the same problem when first starting running on trails.  I can't tell you how much his advice and words of encouragement meant to me.  I just keep thinking I'm beating myself up for nothing, knowing in the back of my mind "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger."  All of my ultra friends (there are a surprising number of them) say the same thing.  Run trails and keep running trails.  Trail running toughens one for the challenges of the ultimate goal.  As Adam said in a recent email (and here's where it starts to make sense), "...you're getting the foot-to-eye coordination down."  That and strengthening ankles and leg muscles.  I know mental toughness fits in there somewhere too.

                                                    "Yes by God, baby we were born to run."
                                                                      Bruce Springsteen