Loopty Loop!

One of my sick fantasies is to run a 24-hour timed race… on a 400 meter track.

When I met Scott Jurek this past October, I was in complete awe of his description of the latter hours of a short looped 24-hour ultra, of how the mind is forced to go to unexplored places, and how self-discovery can be dug up from the deepest and darkest of holes.

The short looped course offers a different dimension of running than most conventional courses at long distance events.  It’s not the scenic kind of race.  It’s not the one you go out and enjoy with a buddy either.  Instead, it’s the put-your-head-down-and-zen-out-til-you-know-what-it-means-to-BE-ALIVE kind of event.  And I want as many of those as I can get.

Sometimes, to add variety to my training, I will do short loop long distance training runs to find that zone where my body and my mind become one powerfully synced moving machine.  A 20-miler on a half mile loop around my house.  3 hours on the 400 meter dirt track at Palmisano Park.  The same 3 mile out-and-back until I hit whatever number I want on that day.

The trick, for me, is to do these spontaneously, with gentle, easy effort.  The idea is to just float along on the same invisible line, hitting every step exactly the same each time.  When I’m really feeling it, I am able to hit near exact splits on every single loop, without even thinking about it.

That is some powerful mind-body connection right there.  And I love experiencing it.  But if I do it too much then it loses its allure, so I like to think of them as prized, perfect storm opportunities.

I always seem to know when it’s time for one of these.  It’s like my body craves it.  Like a drug.

Scott Jurek and I at the Chicago Marathon Expo, October 8, 2011