A friend recently sent me an email with a link to the story about the Japanese Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei who undertake what many of us might regard as excessive running mileage to push the limits of human endurance in search of a higher plane of spirituality. The regime they follow is almost hard to believe especially when the rest of us struggle to maintain a more humble training program just to complete a single marathon! Yet the article contains a line that relates to anyone who has decided on a goal and then strived to reach it;

“…someone else has probably already done it, but by reaching beyond what you think you are capable of, you stand to learn a lot about yourself.”

Last night I read an obituary for Sir Edmund Hillary, who with Tenzing Norgay were the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Reading accounts of exploits such as this always stir something inside that fuels my motivation to try something that pushes me. It doesn’t have to be something quite as dramatic as running marathons day after day or summit the world’s highest peak, as the quotation says it is about ‘reaching beyond what you think you are capable of’.

Here are two other links to books about experiences which have inspired me:

An Evil Cradling By Brian Keenan, which describes his experiences while being hostage in Beirut.

Clear Waters Rising By Nicholas Crane, an account of a solo mountain walk across Europe.

Yesterday a group of fellow runners gathered after dark for a run billed as ‘Howl at the Moon’. The event had been postponed once before so it was decided this one would take place regardless of the weather. Unfortunately the sky was overcast, so we didn’t see the full moon but at least the rain held off. The route was an out and back about 1 hour in total that took us out on a disused trolley track that has been converted into a picturesque trail across wetland. One runner fell just before the turn around over what, we’re not sure. Close inspection of the ground on the return only revealed a collection of small pebbles but the victim was adamant he had collided with a huge bolder!

At the turn we were greeted by Shaggy (of tree hugging fame) who had set up an aid station offering hot chocolate, whipped cream, a ’special’ additive to stave off the winter chill and homemade moon pies. Aid stations at ultras never offer stuff as good as this!

See pictures of the run, click here.

So the word is now out and this blog has been opened to a wider audience than just me, which means I need to be more motivated to keep it up to date!

My weekends are filled with running and it will be that way until the summer provided I stay injury free. Thankfully, my running career hasn’t been blighted with prolonged periods of injury, so either my body is resilient to the punishment or I’ve been doing something right. After the New York marathon last November I have had some soreness in my lower right calf muscle that I though might be a thickening of the Achilles tendon. At the weekend Guthrie (my good lady who is also training to be a massage therapist) tried a ‘new’ technique to try and alleviate the problem. As I lay on the massage table and began to feel the stress of the day melt away, a burning sensation crept up my leg. “This will hurt a bit”; said a voice as my consciousness sprang back to heightened level. When anyone doing something to your body and says the treatment will hurt rather than “this might hurt”, you can bet your bottom dollar some serious pain is coming! My leg felt like it was being peeled with a blunt instrument. With each drawing down the leg I imagined layers of skin hanging off with my ability to run without pain quite literally in tatters. But when I looked over my shoulder though, there was nothing, the tissue was red but that was intentional. The ‘new’ device she had used was simply the back of a dessert spoon, drawn over the skin to encourage blood supply to an area that is difficult to apply deep tissue massage to. Afterwards an ice pack was applied while my hamstrings and calf muscles received more traditional attention.

Yesterday, I ran at lunch on the beach at a state park near my office and the soreness I’d been having had gone. My run was a cautious one because of the day before but it definitely felt better and this morning in the woods I didn’t notice it at all. So maybe there can be some gain from pain!

So what does the tree title have to do with being massaged by a dessert spoon? On Sunday at our regular Dog Run ( a group run in the company of dogs) one of the participants told me at the finish that he had followed some advice I gave a while back about negotiating slippery downhills. I had suggested that if the going was slippery, he should go from tree to tree, using them as a brake to hold on to. It seems that Shaggy (not his real name, most runners in our group have nicknames) barreled down a slope and aimed for a small tree that he intended to grab. He slammed into it squarely and went to throw his arms around as if to hug it. Unfortunately, the force of the impact, was too much for the tree’s roots and after the initial collision it slowly keeled over and fell to the ground. Shaggy, thankfully was unhurt, maybe his pride was dented a little bit, but he said he laughed a lot. So the question is; if you collide with a tree and the tree falls over, does it make a sound to anyone other than the person that pushed it?

My goal this year is to complete the Ultra Grand Slam, this requires me to finish (within time constraints) the 4 oldest 100 mile trail races that also happen to be held over consecutive months. “Why?”, is a question a lot have asked me and really it simply comes down to “because I can!”. I’m going to be 50 in a few months (seeing the number written makes me chuckle as I really don’t feel like I thought I would at this age) and ‘the slam’ is my celebration of the milestone. A few years ago I conjured up the Grand Slam dream after reading about it on-line and since then have methodically gained the experience I believe I’ll need to be successful. Running long distances seems to be an addictive recreation, I know of so many people who simply love to be out running, for me it is the sense of freedom and complete absorption in the immediate surroundings. My favorite time and place is when the weather is wild in a remote location. I grew up in the south of England and enjoyed many adventures on rolling chalk downland where I was usually able to also look out to sea. On moving to the North East of the USA, the transition to woodland was initially claustrophobic, but I’ve got used to that now. Negotiating rocks, roots and fallen trees while trying to maintain a good pace can be very exciting. It can though also hurt if you fall but I try not to think about that! So almost without fail I run each day, not always long or off road. I run early in the mornings and late at night. I run in the dark, during wind and rain or bright sunlight. Thankfully my wife runs too, otherwise there might be a problem!
So my vision is the Grand Slam, a journey that will take me to California, Vermont, Colorado and Utah but only after many miles of training.

2008 I’ve decided will be my grand slam year with a goal to complete the ultra running Grand Slam to celebrate a half century on the planet. I’ve been a trail running enthusiast for several years enjoying the challenge of various distances, terrains and weather. I believe, ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing’ and think little about heading out on a wet windy day to push myself against the environment and elements. I hope to use this blog to post comments during the year ahead through training and competing in the 4 events that make up the Ultra Grand Slam.

Stay tuned and  (hopefully) enjoy the ride!