The other day, I went out to a trail that I had only heard about. I had yet to venture out to where it was. For some reason, things never worked out for me to go run there. I kept feeling pulled to it for some reason, I just needed to wait for the right time and this day, it just felt right.

There is a sense of excitement when going on a new trail. like going into an unknown territory. I feel like an explorer at times. Everything is new to me; the terrain, the challenges and most of all the views. There is a sense of wonder around every corner and a learning of where to go. I know that I am not the first person to go this route, but when there is no one else on the trail around you, there is a bewilderment about it.  I felt like the great explorers of the past, who knew nothing about what lies beyond the the next ridge.

Adding new trails to your training lets you expand your total experience. Without these new paths, we would wear a rut into our everyday trails. Things would become worn out and nearly impassable. Changing things up will keep your running fresh, it will keep your mind sharp. Doing the same thing over and over will dull your senses. You have to stay focused if you want to traverse the path as fast and efficiently as possible.

Some people are happy going to their local track and doing the same loop over and over and over. Where is the adventure in that? Adventure is why I started trail running in the first place, so why not go somewhere new? I read about a man who ran 100 miles on a high school track, breaking a time record. I admire the grit that this took, but all I could think about was how boring that must have been. Then I realized that he BROKE a record. That means there were others who did it. I can’t fathom 400 laps spread out over several weeks, much less at one time.

We have to keep trying new trails.  Running would be boring if we ran the same loop constantly. Part of that is to step out of your comfort zone and try the new, while not forgetting the old. It’s the old ones that have lead you to the new ones, the old paths that gave you a new sense of accomplishment once.

This goes for all of our life, not just in running. Going into the unknown  helps create a new person or, as some would say, it “builds character”. Our continued growth relies on us not becoming stagnate, running the same loop for hundreds of miles. Running in circles does not give you any new visions or perspectives, it just causes worn and beaten down ruts.

We need to follow trails that, while not new, are less traveled. You may not necessarily be blazing a new trail, finding the way so that maybe someday you will be able to guide others down the same path. It might just turn out that you help refine that path, finding a better way.

When I started running, I heard a term, Ultra-runner.  It fascinated me.  Someone who runs races longer than marathon distance.  At the time I could not run a full mile without a break so, who were these super-creatures going to 26.3 and beyond?

My goal had always been to see if I had one marathon in me – just one. (I’m sure there are several people laughing,  Distance running is as addictive as heroin, but I’ll save that for another post.) As I got closer to the goal of 26.2, I began to question myself-do I have what it takes to be an ultra-runner?

In my quest for an answer, I started surrounding myself with those who had the same questions about themselves and those who had answered it.  I noticed something odd, there wasn’t the competitiveness you would expect, even among some of the elite runners. But why not?  In some races the top finisher were there cheering the last ones in.

I think it has to do with shared misery and goals.  There is a camaraderie among trail and ultra runners.  We all have the same or similar goals, so why not help each other achieve them and in the process have a much more fulfilling day?  I’ve seen it time and again, one runner has some sort of trouble and another helps them.

The realization hit me, running beyond 26.2 is only the first qualification of being an ultra-runner. The other is a desire to help others go beyond.  This desire must be proven over and over, not just once.  It must be a part of you character, deep down in the core of your being.

This attitude must extend beyond the trail and into our daily lives. I think this is why the sport seems to have so many good hearted people, not that it attracts them but, it makes them.  It changes people into what they need to be in order to survive on the trails and in life.

Having finished my first 50k, I still find myself wondering, do I have what it takes to be an ultra-runner?  Have I shown the heart that it takes?

A lot of fellow runners started later in life.  Their reasons many, but most would probably relate it back to health somehow.  Yet once they start, the realization hits them at some point, usually after a big race, that they haven’t been truly alive.  Until they started pushing their physical and mental boundaries they had not lived, they only existed.

Simply existing is a slow, cruel death.  One can never see their full potential by existing.  Hopefully by now you have come to the realization that to live fully, you must challenge yourself constantly.

I’ve seen this happen so many times.  Running, along with most fitness activities, creates a sense of self-confidence and greater self worth.   The greater confidence will allow you to try things you previously would not have dreamed of.

The decision to commit to an activity is life changing if you allow it to be that and almost indescribable.  It is what I call the Bardo of running.

Bardo is the Tibetan word for intermediate state.  Tibetan Buddhist believe that this is the state between death and rebirth.  Not that I am a Buddhist, but the concept of a stage between death and life seemed like an interesting analogy to running.

This blog will be about my journey through my personal Bardo and quest to become a better person through it.