Begin again

12:07 am, August 9th, 2021 | Eau Claire, WI  State - South - Fairfax - McElroy - Lamont - London - Harding - Barstow - Grand  Everything collides. This run came together to round off the 31st Week of 2021; hitting 2,000 miles logged in the year. When I started running again in March of 2020, in the back of my mind I had the goal of running  2,000 miles in a year.  Why? Honestly? There's a photograph of Steve Prefontaine in high school wearing a "Pirates 2,000 Mile Club" t-shirt during a training run. I instantly thought, "That's cool! I want to be in that club!" I attempted it once back in 2018 and was right on track to get it, 1,826 miles is what I wrote on my training white board and 1,826 miles is where it stayed.  I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and all running came to a halt.  This last March I reached that goal (March 25th 2020 - March 16th 2021) and celebrated by running a marathon distance up and around Lake Namekagon in the Chequamegon ...

I suppose now would be a good time to touch on what this Eau Claire Project is even all about. It wasn't until June 7th, 2021, (incidentally the first run after receiving my second dose of the vaccine) that I actively started pursuing this project. The seed was planted well over a year ago, first suggested by a good buddy of mine, Jake Smith.  Jake is another tattooed runner dude who has inspired my running journey on many  occasions. From HR training, the literal reason I am able to run healthy again, to running on the Ice Age Trail and a miracle mile or two, Jake is a steady source of  love and appreciation for the process of running. I wouldn't find out later that this project was first done publicly by a Strava  user named Rickey Gates who ran on every street in San Francisco in 46 days From the moment Jake mentioned it, I was immediately hooked. My family moved to Eau Claire in 1992 from Green Bay, the town where I was born. The earliest years of my conscio...

High Bridge - Barstow - Half Moon - Carson - Water - Third Ward - Putnam - UWEC - Grand *note - italic text was written after the initial post I took a deep breath in and my watch turned from 23:59:59 to 0:00:00. I held it for a moment, then exhaled 2020 in a cloud of cold air vapor. Explosions of fireworks in the near distance, an empty, partially lit bike trail along the west bank of the Chippewa River. A misty haze filled the air. These were the first moments of a new year. I felt myself moving through space and time, eyes adjusting, watching the unfolding, explosions from all directions lighting up the sky, transcendental. I passed a small group of runners and wished them a Happy New Year. To give a little background to this moment, I spent the majority of 2020 either in my apartment or out running. This was quarantimes, remember?   I had been furloughed since late March; the same time I started running again (also growing this dang beard). I had taken a year and a half off du...

It’s kind of remarkable, right? That every moment we have the chance to wipe the slate clean and start over?  But really, what if you could? All your mistakes, shortcomings, judgements, *poof* gone. How? Starting over.  By cultivating your mind to make this moment the basis of your life. Did you screw some shit up? Begin again. Succeed or fail at your goals?  Begin again. Treated unjustly, discriminated against, chronic illness, down and out,  Begin again. Stand still. Begin again. To be in a state of perpetual new beginnings; seeing and experiencing the world with new eyes, new ears, a new heart, all the time! This is the state of enlightenment said to have been achieved by Siddhartha Gautama while sitting under the Bodhi tree, before he was given the title of Buddha. The basis of Zen - to begin anew every moment as if this moment is all there is. In Christianity, to “become like little children" and enter the kingdom of heaven. What am I talking about? I was intr...