The Dunes, Part Two
posted 2 months ago in UpdatesI had a flashback moment to almost exactly 8 years ago on my 50-mile ride at Sea Otter while out on our training run with the Fleet Feet group on Saturday. The route was 16-18 miles, and despite mentoring a pace group, I've never run more than thirteen-and-a-half. I had been nervous the day before, escalated to near complete anxious exhaustion because my Coros Pace 2 watch completely died leaving me with no data for my longest run ever. But, I try to stay curious, trust in my ability to endure and enjoy the endurance, and we set out.Â
Somewhere around mile 12, I was starting to get a tingling feeling—you know that feeling that something special is at play. We crested a hill on the Monterey recreation trail in Sand City where the dunes rise up and stretch out above the ocean. One of my favorite spots. Coming around the corner where the ocean comes into view, I had a strong sense memory of riding in the Sea Otter 50-mile Gran Fondo nearly eight years before. That day, the sand had drifted over the path forcing us to pick up the bikes and carry them across the sand (the photo above!) and I suddenly had the feeling of an explorer arriving on the shores of a new world. My new world. For the first time since getting sick, I knew things were different. Not that my health journey would somehow magically resolve, but that I was seeing it new, with an adventurous spirit and a curious heart and mind. It turns out my training was changing my biology as well, but that day I felt myself change in relation to my journey.
Back to our run, I told a version of this story about the significance of the spot and we took a moment to soak up our own adventure, still a few miles from our "shore". We took a photo to commemorate and I ran the rest of the way in deep gratitude to my journey and in awe of how what was once a bike route was now something I was traveling with just my feet.
Somewhere around mile 12, I was starting to get a tingling feeling—you know that feeling that something special is at play. We crested a hill on the Monterey recreation trail in Sand City where the dunes rise up and stretch out above the ocean. One of my favorite spots. Coming around the corner where the ocean comes into view, I had a strong sense memory of riding in the Sea Otter 50-mile Gran Fondo nearly eight years before. That day, the sand had drifted over the path forcing us to pick up the bikes and carry them across the sand (the photo above!) and I suddenly had the feeling of an explorer arriving on the shores of a new world. My new world. For the first time since getting sick, I knew things were different. Not that my health journey would somehow magically resolve, but that I was seeing it new, with an adventurous spirit and a curious heart and mind. It turns out my training was changing my biology as well, but that day I felt myself change in relation to my journey.
Back to our run, I told a version of this story about the significance of the spot and we took a moment to soak up our own adventure, still a few miles from our "shore". We took a photo to commemorate and I ran the rest of the way in deep gratitude to my journey and in awe of how what was once a bike route was now something I was traveling with just my feet.
