Eva Runs Through It

This is dedicated to a very dear friend, who unfortunately, has a few cells that went rogue.  She is the strongest woman I know. It’s not about acting tough.  The trail doesn’t care how many likes you get or the image you try to present.  Your toughness must come from the confidence you build in your own inner strength. It’s not about following trends.  It is about gathering knowledge and making your own choices based on what you know about yourself. It’s not about prestige.  There is nothing glamorous about kneeling by yourself, alone on a dark trail, holding your own hair, feeling like you just can’t push any further. It's not about inspiring. People only throw that word around when you are doing something they either don't want to, or don't think they can, do. It’s not about how you physically look.    I truly believe outer beauty only radiates from what is inside.      It is about knowing tha...

"Runner discretion.  Please use runner discretion.   You will face adverse weather conditions, please use your discretion and keep yourself safe"   That’s how the race directors start each pre-race meeting.  What they fail to realize is that the discretion of many of these runners should be questioned...thoroughly. This race, which is really two races, is located north of Buffalo, NY.   Unfortunately, all of the stereotypes about Buffalo weather hold true.   We get snow.  We get bitter cold.  We get melting summers.   And, in the minds of the two race directors, we get the Beast of Burden. The Beast, is run in both the winter and the summer.   In order to get the coveted “Double Buckle” you must run both.  In that order.  In the same year.   There are no exceptions.  The Beast doesn’t want to know your sob stories or excuses. It sounds easy enough.   The course ...

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  Teddy Roosevelt Natalie is away at camp for two weeks.   Noah is busy with his job, training, and girlfriend.  Mark has muscle-show prep, work and a certification he is working on.  There was no need for me to be at home.  In fact, it seemed like Mark  was trying to get rid of me.   “You don’t have to rush back, ya’ know…” Ok, I got it, pose away.  I know those tans aren’t going to spray themselves on. I had the priceless gift of time. I set off for the Appalachian Trail.   The inspiration came from the most unlikely place, a Regents exam.  NYS does not allow us to see the exam before the students.  Normally, it is quite boring, and I feel like I am reading paint ingredients to disinterested students.   This time, it was about the Appalachian Trail, and I was enthralled.   My friend Jen caught me after the exam.   I don’t...

Noah works full-time,but has Wednesdays off.   A fact I’d forgotten, until he padded down the stairs at 11:11 (his number).  “You’re home!”  he said.  I’d just returned the night before from a much desired, very fulfilling, A+ training run.  “Let’s go to lunch”, he continued. I love my 1:1 time with my boy.  We talk about anything and everything.  Today’s topic was his next marathon.  “I’m just not sure why I’m doing it.  I don’t have the same reasons as last time”.  Granted, I found out he wanted to do another marathon on Facebook…’Today I start training for marathon #2’.  Wait...What??? Sigh...how do I explain it to the boy?  “Noah, you do it because it’s hard, but you are tougher.  You do it because you can learn about yourself.  You do it because once it’s done, no one can ever take it away from you.  Noah, you do it because you can.” Fast forward to the M...

No.  Not today.  Last year, I signed up for this race, completed half of it, and walked away.  I had the strength, but I also had my reasons.   I just couldn’t run through it.  I chose to say, “no”.  I took my ball and went home. Fast forward a year.   I got my ball back and I wanted to play.  But, I was physically tired.  I didn’t get to sleep in as planned, the six-hour drive to the race was difficult in the pouring rain, and to top it off, I was woken by a bear as I camped.   I had reasons this year too, but I was going to race. I teach my students about the three types of conflict in literature.   For some reason, they passed through my thoughts. Man vs. Man;  I was going to push during this race, and it was a race.  But, if someone had more oomph than I, by all means, go ahead.  If not, no worries, I’ll pace you.  This was a race, but I was not in competition with anyone els...

          They say you don’t know a person until you run a mile in his shoes.   I’m not sure about that, but I do know about running a mile over and over again for 6-12-24-48 or 72 hours.   Three Days at the Fair is a timed race around a 1-mile course.   To date, I have run this mile 466 times, including 115 this past weekend.   I have it memorized.             It may sound monotonous, but there is comfort in knowing the tail.  Let me take you on a trip around the mile. Start/Finish-This is the happiest place on the course.   It features the one aid station.   They are known to cook to order and deliver hot food right on to the course.   Nothing beats hot chocolate chip cookies at 2 am! The “HILL”-this thing will grown exponentially from barely noticeable, to OMG!   Before you tackle the hill, you have the choice of stepping a ...

Me:  I love you, Dad. Dad:  What? Am I dying? In fact, he was.  This was the last thing I said to my dad, and the first time I ever said it to him.  We just didn’t use those words in our house The first time my mom said it, was on my wedding day.  She was walking away from me, heading out the door.   I knew it was hard for her, and I cherished hearing it. Once when Danielle (of course Danielle would ask this) asked why, my mom said, “You know you are loved. Why do you need to hear it?”.   In college we used to say “I ludge you”.  I could do that.  We said it so we didn’t sound gay.  For many of my sorority sisters, there is tremendous irony in that statement. This weekend, I ran C+O Canal.  I had high hopes for this race, and I trained with a vengeance.  For some reason, I can go pretty fast on that course, and I’ve set two PR’s along that canal. On the trail, it got pretty “dark” for me.  Th...