Wholistic Fitness

For DIRECT LINES

submitted and written by WF Student Sean Madine, Broomfield, CO

{Inspired by Coach Ilg�s article on his Grand Canyon trail race [Direct Lines, 9/2/02].}

There is an interesting event called the Breckenridge Crest that is held

every Labor Day Weekend. It is 25 miles of mountain running including

5000 feet of ascent with an average elevation of about 10,500 feet.

I’ve considered doing this in the past, but always talked myself out of

it with words like, “� if you train a little harder next year �” During

the week before the run, I decided to enter. I wasn’t focused on

performing. As I had never run more than 18 miles in the mountains, I

was there to go into the unknown and to see “what’s what”.

In the few days before the event, I prepared my mind and body. The most important part of this was the meditation. I wanted to feel the

difference between effort and struggle. I wanted to trust in relaxation

and ease. These are the things that have been a focus during climbing.

A different venue sometimes provides new insight.

Waking up on race morning, I felt great. The CD playing on the car

stereo was Lifehouse, “� What is real? Just a dream �” This became

the mantra for early part of the run. When the cannon fired to start

the race, I couldn’t have felt better. It took some time for the group

of about 150 runners to establish flow on the narrow trail. The first

hour seemed to pass very quickly. Above timberline the pace slowed.

The course headed up steep switchbacks to the top of the first climb.

At the top, I switched gears into the downhill mode. If there is a

strong aspect of my trail running, it is the ability to handle the steep

downhills. I bombed the 1000 foot descent. My watch claimed that I had

been running for over 1.5 hours, but I was completely fresh and ready

for the second of the two major climbs.

There was a very abrupt switch from steep downhill trail to steep uphill

trail. It was time to switch from running to power hiking. The wind

increased during this section. My body cooled very quickly. By the top

of the climb, my legs started to cramp. There was a beauty to the

symmetry of the cramping. Both legs seemed to lock in the same way at

the same time. Words from Coach Ilg�s meditation began to arise. “You are not separate from the difficult circumstances in your life.” I just

breathed and continued to move forward. Over the next 30 minutes of

running on the “crest” at 12,400 feet, the cramps gradually eased. At

the top of the second major descent, I had recovered and was ready to

move quickly again.

I reached the aid station at the bottom of the second big descent. My

watch read about 3:25. I had completed 95% of the climbing and 17 of

the 25 miles. It was gentle rolling terrain from there to the finish.

As I left the station, I was elated. My pace increased. At that time,

there was no realization that the dragons were waiting just up the

trail. In about 15 minutes, my energy completely evaporated. Every

step became more difficult than the previous one. Struggle began to

replace effort. I began to walk the uphills and run the flats and

downs. The cramping had returned with a vengeance. I’m sure that many

onlookers confused me with Frankenstein as I did my best to just keep

moving forward.

The HP Yoga video began to haunt me at this point. At each transition

from walking to running, I heard the words, “� ok yogi, here is a chance

to be noble.” During the long flat sections, my legs wouldn’t listen to

the request to move faster. There were more words from the video, ” �

stand in the fire. What are you afraid of?” Coach probably didn’t know

why his ears were ringing so loudly. This last section took almost 2

hours to complete. It felt like 2 days. There was a constant battle

with the dragons. They kicked my ass. I realized that this was why I

had entered the event, that this was the teaching.

On the final descent into the town of Breckenridge, I could barely

lumber down the moderate hills. All of a sudden I came around a turn

and saw the finish line. It was over after 5 hours and 20 minutes of

effort and struggle. Emotions swirled. Could I have done better?

Could I have run just a few more sections with more elegance? I sat in

the grass and listened to the bluegrass band. The sun was shining and

the mountain air was cool. It was time to let the emotions evaporate.

�

Sean is a beautiful representative of Wholistic Fitness. He is intelligent (he is some sort of scientist), polite, inwardly motivated, and accepts my most difficult training programs with calm steadfastness and an undercurrent of deep joy. Sean has attained a Warrior Level Inka and has enjoyed 3.5 years of WF online study with regular Private Training Intensives with me in New Mexico and Los Angeles. Sean uses Wholistic Fitness to increase his performances in mountaineering and climbing, both of which remain his passion. Sean lives in Broomfield, Colorado and regularly runs, rides his road bike and climbs the same routes I did along the Front Range. Sean has been taking formal online training under WF Teacher Grant Couture for the past year. It is my honor to have him Here Now.

– coach ilg