Getting Past The Running
Moving into a flow state
So far, so good.
The training logistics can be a challenge. I used to suffer deeply to get it done. Now it’s a different kind of training. I run long enough to get tired and far enough to run out of water. Twenty miles used to take loads of fuel and plenty of water; now, if it’s cool, I can run 20 trail miles on an empty stomach.
We adapt to the training in the same way we gravitate to what we focus on. At this point, I don’t train to go fast. I taught myself to suffer better. I prepare to make the hard runs easier so the long runs field shorter.
I trained myself to expect the oneness of a running flow state. These days, it’s all the rage talking about flow. I recall feeling the skin peeling off my foot and into my shoe. I became friends with that sensation and lost a great toenail. Flow carried me through the night to the finish line that October morning. It doesn’t take much thought while it’s happening.
Sometimes on a perfect day, the run doesn’t even feel real. You know you’re in the woods on a trail moving through mountains. The sound of your footfalls has evaporated. The wind shaking the leaves makes noise; you do not. You’re a wild animal, silent as a thought, that doesn’t have to search for words. Everything is in the right place.
The thing about it is there doesn’t have to be anything beyond the feeling of oneness. This feeling moves me. Being shaded by the branches of an ancient grove of trees, I move flawlessly under the sundry leaves of a dozen generations. If you’re lucky, you know what I mean.
I am moving freely.
Finding flow is the currency of training, and I’m getting comfortable spending it. I’m a runner, getting past the running.
