Evolution

Evolution

Eaaaasy there, fired up anti-Christianity and pro-Christianity folk, this isn’t about what you think it is. “Stand down man, stand down!”. As tempted as I am to chime in on paleoanthropology, I’ll leave it alone. Evolution discussion triggers all kinds of rousing debates, many of which I notoriously welcome. Some exchanges encourage deeper thought which I embrace whole-heartedly; others just want to make me throw up in my mouth. This happened recently.

An acquaintance of mine was trying to convince me, citing science, that living creatures have the ability to morph into other species (specifics given, but not worth repeating). His argument was based purely on a skewed interpretation of science and fueled by ego and ignorance. Sorry friends, I was not convinced, and will not budge on this one. Science is a valuable asset to use in a debate, but it can shut down a hypothesis as easily as it can ignite one.

Looking back at the 10-15 minutes of rambling BS, I realized that there is a glimpse of insight smashed between Dr. Rick Potts citations and IPhone pics of the Smithsonian. I do believe in personal evolution- join the cool kids and open your mind.

Significant changes, via morphing or evolution, is much easier to comprehend when you experience it firsthand. The primal human life cycle depicts countless occurrences of evolution in the short time between birth and death in forms of physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional..you get it. Call it what you will, it happens.

I truly feel that each stage in our life, substantiated by junctures of notable variable, are opportunities for change that can drastically alter the course of our lives, our relationships, and our physical and emotional well-being. These circumstances seem to pop up, sometimes momentarily, and then disappear-sometimes forever. Our cognitive processing in the form of personal choice leads us to embrace or dismiss the opportunity, resulting in all types of reactive outcomes. Examples are all around us: Hitting the snooze button, our menu selection at lunch, initiating conversation with the hottie walking out of Starbucks, hurdling the boulder or running around it at mile 78 of 100…you get it. It’s simple: human choice can alter your day, alter your life, and even encourage evolution.
 

A recent business trip to Colorado was overflowing with circumstances that teased me by offering countless prospects for choice. As a passionate ultrarunner coming back slowly from a serious stress fracture, I knew the opportunities were going to be boundless and overwhelming. The several weeks prior to this trip were spent in preparation for this. My injury had been slow-healing and after months of PT, cross-training, the dreaded “resting it”, $1,700 in MRIs, and watching in absolute desire as my friends were tearing up the trails, I finally submitted to a more dedication form of “listening to my body”. I had no idea my body was so damn needy. If this was a relationship that I could bail on, I would have hit the bricks years ago.

 

Cutting myself off from running and cross training like a beast helped my focus and before long (albeit too long) I was feeling pretty good, ready to test out the gimp leg on Colorado dirt. My first morning I was wide awake by 4:00 a.m. and heading up to my first peak. Summiting by sunrise was the plan and I knocked that bad boy out like a champ. The experience was overwhelming. A little running, a lot of power hiking, random selfies, constant smiling, and a few tears of absolute joy filled my inaugural summit. Reaching the top took a couple hours. That’s right: two hours of shear excursion, two hours of putting my Altra Lone Peaks to the test, two hours of wondering what the growl was, and two hours of trail therapy. The result: I evolved. I morphed. I grew.

The stressful months leading up to that morning were immediately put into perspective the minute I looked across the indescribable view at the snow peaked mountains. I was so small, relatively insignificant..and I realized at that moment that the variables that were not contributing to my happiness in my life were as well. Sucking in that fresh Colorado air was like breathing in renewal and it felt amazing. Inspired by a running mentor, I sat at the peak, legs dangling over what would definitely be a certain death if I lost my balance, and I straight chilled. Call it meditation, call it whatever you want. I seized the opportunity to totally summit to that peak and it changed me. I’m not going to go into too much detail on what finally clicked that morning for me, what I let go, or what I shared with that little lizard next to me, but it was good shit.

Heading back down the mountain was ridiculously challenging but incredibly fulfilling. I slid down a few of the sections just far enough to encourage a spike in my heartrate and PG-13 vulgarity. It was awesome. Stupid to be doing solo, but awesome all the same.

The rest of the week’s agenda in Colorado Springs consisted of morning peak summits, work, and evening adventures. I did some touristy stuff, no regrets..but my preference and motivation to return was supported by discovering forgotten, desolate single track trails around Pike’s Peak, hidden from view and traffic. Solo trail runs were the most memorable, however I was blessed to run and mtb with some bad ass animals who helped me regulate my occasional ego and embrace humility. Incredible lessons- and I’m a better ultrarunner, triathlete, and human because of it.
Bow to the mountain and you will not have any room to bow to yourself. Let that marinate for a minute.
 

By the end of the week, my daily summit goal morphed to a daily experience goal. Reaching the top isn’t nearly as rewarding if you don’t truly open yourself up to experience the journey. As the week’s miles increased, my tired body was actually feeling less pain. The tightness and sore muscles that I have battle for months melted away instead of increased. I soon realized that the more mountain I had, the more peace I had. This translated to a physical and emotional release, a sort of natural anti-anxiety med. I had several epiphanies. I laughed to myself when I thought of the thousands of dollars that I blew on doctor’s visits, MRIs, x-rays, and pointless follow up visits. Not one of those professionals suggested a prescription of Pike’s Peak. Shame on them.
 

I thought about the resources that I experienced and will continue to embrace. As always, I didn’t give my massage therapist, Laura Kuesel, enough credit. She tapped into this concept months ago and offered myokinesthetic therapy. My experience was ground-breaking and truly helped me open my mind to healing as a whole and not limiting myself to generic medical practice and advisement. Myo uses a scientific approach to rebalance the nervous system, reset the body, and relieve pain. It’s crazy deep. Laura’s skill, insight, and legitimate dedication to my well-being is priceless. She taught me to be open-minded and planted seeds of addressing other aspects of my life to heal my presenting injury. This concept seems pretty applicable to setbacks outside of running.
 

One resounding factor in any positive progression is the significance of choice and action. True evolution in terms of self-awareness and personal growth only transpires with a firm decision to apply yourself, produce substantial efforts, and commit to your goals. I can’t tell you how many times someone has suggestion that ultra isn’t healthy or I should shift my focus to another sport. “100 miles? I don’t even drive that far!” …this has been proclaimed to me, and most ultrafreaks, more times than we can count. If ultrarunning was simply a sport to me and if my goals merely sport-related, walking away after injury doesn’t seem so unreasonable. Clearly this not a sport to me. Ultra is a lifestyle and now runs deep in my blood.

Coming back from months of recovery is not necessarily fun and more challenging than the last marathon of a 100-miler. I’m not a patient person and knowing where my fitness was and assessing where it is now is a tad overwhelming. I’m eyeing a couple races and the excitement is motivating as well as encouraging the bubble-guts and frequent bathroom runs. Premature? Probably. Typical for me? Absolutely. “My pain is self-chosen..” -Great words from a legit human. That being said, I do respect my needy body more than I used to and totally acknowledge that as I move up in age brackets, I need to re-evaluate my training recovery. Damn it.
 

However, it’s a choice..my choice and I am committed to it. Remaining goal-focused and truly at peace with my abilities will naturally help me weed out the unnecessary, pain-ensuing distractions. This epiphany launched my evolution. It’s redirected my perspective, enlightened my problem-solving, and morphed me into a visionary that has opened my eyes to the power of choice and sea of rewards. It feels good to be back at the helm. I am finding myself eagerly seeking out opportunities to take on new challenges and test my dedication and perseverance and sincerely encourage my friends to do the same. We are all victims of our own excuses and they eventually define us. Opportunities to fall back on excuse are timeless and omnipotent. We are not. Think about it..When faced with opportunity in the form of choice we are either too young, too old, too tired, too busy, too ego-centric. Between too young and too old is right now. Break that down into years if you need to. Spoiler alert: it’s not many. A few excuses more and it’s too late and we are buried six feet under with a tombstone engraving that could read “I should have..”
 

Maximize your opportunities but embracing the power of choice. Carpe diem. (I probably spelled that wrong..) Sounds cliché, but holy hell it’s legit. Taking action will put you in control of your own evolution.

Trail on, my friends.