I love to travel, I love to write,
I love to run. If I get a chance to mix
the three together it usually ends up being something very special for me. In the 16 months that I have been running I
have learned that sometimes the moments that make up the event are more
important than the event itself. What
does that mean? Just look at these ‘stories’
I tell of running experiences. They
could easily be as simple as: I ran a race, here’s my time, yay, on to the next
one. The straight facts are all well and
good but it’s how I feel emotionally, what I see, what I experience, those
things that make running more than just exercise. It is an excuse to live more.
A perfect example of this ‘excuse’
is my recent trip up to Lincoln, NH. I
wanted to go back for the first time in over 20 years and hike Flume Gorge
again, and visit the Old Man of the Mountain site again. However there was something that superseded
all of that: The Kancamagus Highway. ‘The
Kanc’ is a 34-mile stretch of nearly untouched wilderness winding through the
White Mountains between Lincoln and North Conway. There is no food, gas, and basically no cell
reception for that distance. For me it
was a no brainer to go and run some of it.
I have learned that running gives
you more of a feel for your surroundings than driving does. I could have driven through The Kanc and seen
and appreciated it, but I wanted to feel it.
I wanted there to be nothing between me and the landscape, running gave
me that excuse to live more.
Not only was I going to run part of
The Kanc, but I was going to start at the highest elevation, 2855 feet, at
Kancamagus Pass. If I was going to do
this I was going all out.
I arrived at Kancamagus Pass close
to 6pm, it was a bit windy and cooler than expected. The views of the nearby White Mountains
immediately caught my attention and I stretched under a gazebo which gave me an
unobstructed panoramic observation. I
had to remind myself that there was running to do. See, I hadn’t run in 10 days due to a really
annoying left hip injury. I had been
tinkering with my stride and ended up costing myself some prime training time
in the middle of my first marathon training.
Running a super steep course was the last thing I should have been doing
but I have always been very stubborn. I
kept my injury pretty hush, at least how bad it was, cause someone would have
tried to stop me.
Within the first ¼ mile I started
wishing someone had stopped me. The
grade was 7% or more for the majority of the run and my hip immediately was in
pain. I thought to myself that this was
probably my last run for a good long while, no Falmouth Road Race in August, no Cape Cod
Marathon in October, which would mean no Boston Marathon 2013. I decided that if I was going to be out for a
while at least my final run would be a great scenic one. As I was running I remembered something that my Uncle
Steve had told me, that you can never run slow enough when training for
endurance. Sure, this was in reference
to my marathon training, but I thought that slowing down would not only let me
appreciate my surroundings more but it might also save my hip. It did.
Before I had gone a full mile my
hip felt better, my legs loosened up, and my run went from being a death knell
to being the most amazing run I had ever done.
I didn’t care about time, this was not a race, hell, it wasn’t even any
sort of training run. This was, as my
good friend Deanna would love to hear, running for fun. I stopped and took photos of the mountains
and took the time to wave to just about every passing car. The reason for that was so lots of people saw
me in case I got jumped by a bear or something.
Hey, no cell reception meant no calling for help, right?
My original turnaround point was
Lily Pond, a spot just over 2 ½ miles from Kancamagus Pass. I got there, took some pictures, and breathed
in the air before deciding it wasn’t enough.
I wanted to go further. Something
was happening along that highway. My hip
was not healed, oh by no means, but the dire prophecy of it being ‘the end’ was
disappearing. I could now concentrate on
running and the experience of running The Kanc, and not about whether my hip
was going to give and I was going to need an ambulance.
After close to 4 miles of running
steeply downhill I knew that it was time to head back, clouds were rolling in
and I knew that if it rained there was no way I could sprint back to my car
uphill. Besides, I had gone further than
I expected and was in relatively little pain, especially when it hurt to lie on
my left side even a few days earlier.
I began my ascent back to Kancamagus
Pass, going very slowly, close to 10 min. pace, my hips were getting a workout
for sure. The 7% grade ended up being
classified as a Grade 2 climb on MapMyRun.com.
The scale was 1-5, with 5 being lowest, so I felt even better about what
I had done afterward when I saw that statistic.
As much as I enjoyed the scenery,
and the runner’s high that came with 7 ½ miles of steep hill running, I was
still looking forward to stretching and then relaxing. I made sure to take a photo of the sign
designating the elevation I had just run at, just in case anyone wanted proof. Despite it being cloudy I stuck around
Kancamagus Pass for a while longer just thinking about what I had done, and how
I had felt before I ran compared to after.
Running The Kanc was a once in a
lifetime run, my excuse to live more might have saved my running soul. Sure I am still achy in my hip, but if The
Kanc didn’t break me than nothing short of running Mt. Everest will. In my time as a runner I have wanted to
continually push myself past my limits, this was no different. Most people for their first ‘rehab’ run might
do 2 miles on a treadmill. Me? I did 7 ½ through the White Mountains. I am not saying I’m some sort of machine,
that’s Emily’s department not mine, I am probably pretty stupid for risking my
health. Since I never thought I would be
‘able’ to run I now want to see just how far these legs can take me. I’d rather have been hurt running The Kanc than
jogging on a treadmill, at least I’d have a damn good story.
Isn’t that what life is all
about? Seeing just how far you can
go? It’s all about risks, if you don’t
try you don’t get anywhere, you don’t fail, but you don’t succeed either. I am happy with myself today knowing that I set out to run The Kanc and have done it.
Running gets your body in better shape, and I
feel it has gotten my mind into better shape.
If there is a ‘runner’s high’ is there also ‘runner’s depression’ if you
can’t run? What are your ultimate ‘dream
runs?’ Mine is the Honolulu Marathon,
2014 might be when that happens. Until
then, every mile is a story of its own.
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| The White Mountain landscape along 'The Kanc.' |
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| When I finally was able to enjoy what I was doing. |
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| Lily Pond |
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| I wasn't kidding about the elevation. |
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| This is actually less of a slope than I ran most of the time, still looks steep. |
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