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Week 27: Rounding into Form, Momento Mori, and the Space Between

No intro tonight. LFG!

Couch to Ultramarathon…and Beyond

Prepping for the 50k involved some stuff.

Juggling schedules, using my lunch hour for training 60% of the time, dropping off the kids at their grandparents while my wife is traveling so I can go on a 3-hour run, trying to eat better, trying to sleep better, and everything in between.

Last week I wrote about the 50k by the numbers, but it was mostly just about the race itself.

What about the other stuff?

When I started, I weighed 201 lbs (91kg). Now I weigh 178 lbs (81kg) having lost 10% of my body weight, visible mostly around my gut and hips.

Last year’s physical showed my cholesterol at 201, just a smidge on the high side. After last week’s blood panel, it now reads 160, a 20% decrease.

My resting heart rate has gone from around 70 to just over 50. 

VO2 max has increased from 37 to 47. My pace with heart rate in zone 2 improved from almost 14 minutes a mile to under 10 minutes per mile.

Every conceivable health metric has improved dramatically. And I was not fundamentally unhealthy before starting this.

But I’m starting to realize it’s the culmination of a journey, perhaps even a comeback tour of sorts; a return to the person I once was and longed to be once again.

I now see things clearly on a timeline of healing in body, mind, and soul.

Nearly 4 years ago, I quit drinking after a long look in the mirror showed me the awful truth.

A few months later my second son was born, which was one of the most joyous moments of my life.

A week later my father passed away, leaving me to consider hard questions such as the measure of my days.

Then I started writing, leading to a personal renaissance of discipline, clarity, and creativity.

And last year, some random video on YouTube reminded me of the adventures I still yearned for, no longer in search of life’s fleeting pleasures, but rather in search of the soul’s satisfaction.

So it goes. Life is funny that way.

Philosophical Dad Stuff

My wife has been traveling for most of the last month.

As such, it’s been back to the basics in many ways. Chop wood; carry water.

One side benefit of the running has been I’ve explored my local community much more. Part of that has been running through the cemeteries.

It’s funny looking back. The first time I ran through one of larger ones here in town, it was a misty morning, before dawn. Pretty much eerie as shit.

But now, it’s become a haven for me, a quiet respite from the busy and self-obsessed world down the hill.

As I run along the rows of graves, my mind invariably turns to these themes of life and death. The headstones run the spectrum of the human condition of course. Some lived long lives, some not so much, some not really at all.

A few days ago, a friend of mine wrote about the “dash.”

Every headstone out there has a born date, a passing date, and a dash; signifying the between. And while it’s total cliché, the dash is what’s important.

For added effect, take your kids to the graveyard.

I guarantee you it will fill you with resolve to be healthier, live longer, live fuller, and laugh more. For that it can add valuable perspective.

Visits to such places also bring questions from the kids.

Questions about those themes of life, death, and the space between. I don’t shy away from the answers, nor am I afraid to admit when I don’t know the answers to their questions.

Some things I guess we’ll just find out together I’ll say.

Momento mori. The knowledge that we will someday pass from this world.

One of the sources of both our greatest strengths and weaknesses.

Remember it’s all about that dash.

“Being a man today is a wonderful thing. With muscles in his back and a song in his heart, a fully equipped man can life a couch or the spirits in a room; subdue an intruder or wrestle dark thoughts to the ground. We have to keep bettering ourselves, or our hearts and minds will wither as surely as our abdominals. It's easy to forget how persuasive we can be. With a few words of encouragement or compassion, each of us can have an impact and leave the world a better place. The cliché that a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do is wrong. The truth is, a man's gotta do everything he can.” Stolen from a Men’s Health article I saw 20 years ago

Live triumphantly. See you next week.