As many others, trail running was initially transporting me into that zealous state of mind, where spending a painful 10 extra hours pushing against the wall
felt morally superior to quitting some 20K after your legs felt like giving up and all systems started shutting down. Well, to hell with that, I'd say now :D
felt morally superior to quitting some 20K after your legs felt like giving up and all systems started shutting down. Well, to hell with that, I'd say now :D
Now, I'd say I've absorbed trail running into my life as part of My Way. This means, it comes to me naturally as part of everything that I do, but because of that, it musn't affect the other parts that make up my life. My work, social and sentimental life, my inner peace. I have thus accepted some limits of how much physical strain I can bear and yet be able to keep up the daily pace.
At the same time, I have let it develop into adventure running, discovery and exploration, more and more often in full autonomy, sometimes in company of fellow adventure runners. Being out there, doing quality time in the nature on our own, weighs up against a physical measure of performance in competition.
Would I ever go back to 100km/week training schedule, or pursuit 100km races, if I got back in shape from 3 years ago?
I'm not sure. I think running long races has given me what I ask for initially: a confirmation of who I am, a recognition for what I do. Proving things to myself, and to others. What I look for now is something else, that intimate feeling of being part of nature's forces that only exploration and full autonomy can give me. How about traversing a mountain range for a start?
