I’ll come right out and say it: running an ultra makes me nervous and sometimes I don’t know what to do with that energy.
Thoughts arise without provocation. Ceaselessly, they enter the mind and we react. Combatting and evading and soon losing control of the ship.
While practicing mindfulness helps. Confidence in preparation is better.
When confronted by unease, I look back at my practically religious training over the past four months for reassurance. The craft is sound.
Scattered throughout the Himalayan are walls made up of thousands of mani stones, each inscribed with the mantra “Om mani padme hum.”
I’ll admit I was a touch skeptical about the sheer amount of human energy sunk into something seemingly superstitious and without utility.
Except walking beside them, admiring the fine chiselled tibetan script and the improbable grandeur of surrounding mountains, inspires something like fractal awe. And how better can anyone really spend their time and energy but in a state of devotion?
I do not approach training with a sacred air. Logging a session is like doing manual labor. Rise and grind. Get it done. But everything about this act says ritual—repetition, sacrifice, a test of will.
Habits we typically reserve for spiritual practice also make us runners. It’s funny that most of us do not associate training with spirituality, yet on paper we basically belong to a religious cult.
It should be no surprise that I expect a lot of myself at Madeira. I believe these expectations align with the preparation.
Despite all this philosophizing, the race is just a big day out, a formidable task: Get from point A to point B as fast as possible.
Race Details:
Madeira Island Ultra Trail 115km, 7000m d+
Start time: 00:00 April 27 (7pm EST)