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023 | Running Out of the Cage

2/16/2014

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    Call me crazy, call me masochistic, call me just plain stupid, but I decided to go on a run with Michaeline. That’s right - the Michaeline I spoke of last week - the ultrarunner who only seems to get stronger as she goes. Uhh, just hearing her name is a formidable challenge.
    My alarm clock rang at 6:03 (I don’t like to set alarms for even numbers), and almost immediately I heard Mikey stirring in the other room. Not 30 seconds passed before she had her shoes on and was at the door: “Are you ready yet?” “Uhhh” I groaned.
    I’ve first met Mikey in Freshman year of college... but I think we exchanged our first words two years later when we both worked at a geology lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. We became fast friends... and that’s when I first noticed her strange habit: she came to work after having run at least ten miles, and headed off after work to run another ten. I mean, she was on the track team and all, but still, it seemed a little excessive for running the steeple chase or a 3k race.
    I tried to go on runs with her sometimes, but was dropped in approximately 1.3 seconds. She did her best to make me feel good - she said she wanted to work on sprint training with me, and as a recovering football player, I knew my fair share about sprint training. So we began. And I noticed something even more peculiar about her.
    In a 40 yard uphill sprint, I blew her away. Again it happened. I gave her a 5 yard head start, same result. 7 yards, 10 yards. I was still passing her. The thing was, her top speed just wasn’t that fast... but she could hold it for miles.
    And that’s just what she began to do on this dark, rainy morning in Berkeley. The feeling of running in the rain was actually quite liberating, but as I struggled to regain my breaths, the classic old thoughts began to creep in. Why am I doing this?
    We veered off road and started up a muddy trail in the dark, our feet sinking into the soft earth as the trail began to ascend. And ascend. We climbed, climbed some more, and reached areas where we started literally climbing. I grabbed onto roots and clumps of grass, using them to essentially slab-climb up the trail - the difference between this and true slab climbing, of course, was the fact that I couldn’t trust any feet. Mud gave out beneath each step as I clawed my way uphill next to Mikey. Eventually, though, she found her footing and trotted on. I continued to slip and slide, finally reaching a 10 foot section that had no good roots or holds. I made a go at going straight up it quickly, but slid back down, covered in mud. Mikey had noticed my lagging and customarily turned around to run back until I met with her. I was determined to get up the section, though, with no help, so I ran towards the side of the trail, kicked off the mound and lowest branch of an innocent tree, and leapt for a clump of grass at the top of the section, just barely catching it with my hands and hoisting/mantling/rolling like a beached whale on top of it. Mikey laughed, turned, and ran on. For the first time in quite a while, I felt like the out-of-shape fat guy once again. whew.
    The trail flattened out for a bit and came to a divergence - one path exited from the park onto the street, and the other headed straight up. Mikey went straight for the path out to the ... well to my suprise to the street. I got hopeful! I wanted to be done now! She stopped, carefully looked at the sign facing the opposite direction, and said - ‘let’s go this way!’ So straight uphill we went.
    My calves were slowly suffocating. I was pretty sure they were going to need to be amputated. I wasn’t keeping up with Mikey at all. I wanted to be done running, not just now, but for good. She would run far ahead, and then turn back, meeting up with me again to sprint on ahead. This was both very nice of her and like leading a rabbit on with a carrot on a string - every time I thought ‘this is the time I’ll be able to keep up with her!’ and didn’t.

    It’s about time I heeded my own advice, right? I reminded myself - just find a process to focus on, and trust the process. It doesn’t matter what the rest of your body feels like, just focus on maintaining breathing only through my nose. If you must slow down, so be it.

    Slowly, gradually, I began to relax and run. To just settle into my rhythm. Maybe I’m being too woo-woo positive and it was actually just that the 14% grade began to gradually reverse its direction. Whatever the case, I trusted the process, and I loved it. I felt strong. I trusted the process, and it set me free.

    I think we all put ourselves into cages created by our own minds at times.

    What’s the process you’re going to trust in?


Listen in to Episode 023:
Music by David Phillips! Check him out! And like I said, if you have a story to tell, get on the Newsletter by entering your email below and send me the goods!
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022 | Shining Stars through the Smog at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market

2/10/2014

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Life's a lot like a wintertime night trail run. The dangers out there are real - very real. But if we act like a Boy Scout, plan ahead and prepare (and act accordingly), most things just aren't as serious as our minds can make them out to be.

That's my hope for the current environmental crisis. If we can plan ahead, prepare, and change our actions to reflect greater human health and environmental sustainability, we can turn this ship around, and make these issues less serious than they are looking right now.

Today, I present to you three stories of businesses that are trying to create business solutions to human and environmental health. Many of you know that I have a natural aversion to business - I just feel that so often the objective of businesses is to sell people stuff that they don’t need. So at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, I really focused on finding the companies that are doing something more, something bigger. Companies that are genuinely helping people lead better, healthier, happier, more productive lives and who, in doing so, are working to help solve the environmental crisis. These are them.

First up was Scott Baker from Icebox Knitting speaking about Xob. By using scraps and bits from old wool items that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill, Xob is able to make beautiful, sustainable clothing. Seriously consider getting some of their stuff for your next winter hat rather than a new item from a company that isn't B-Corporation certified.

Second was Kevin Brodwick from ThinkBaby and ThinkSport. It's so important that we are using clean products - products that don't have chemicals in them that can disrupt our hormonal balance - which I consider to be one of the most important factors in who we are. Kevin's companies are providing that.

And lastly, we had Beth and Sherry from Trust Your Journey. I've often said that everybody needs a community - you will never outperform your inner circle! Trust Your Journey is providing that community for people who need it the most. Positive energy has some amazing, sometimes unexplainable healing powers, and Sherry gives one description of those powers.

Join us! Episode 022:
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021 | Re-Learning How to Run with Barefoot Ted

2/3/2014

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How many of us have this story: we tried running for years and kept getting hurt? Or we stopped because we felt beat-up physically even though we still had energy?

This was my story until I read Born to Run and found Barefoot Ted's journey (check out the photos below!). Similarly, this was Barefoot Ted's story until he uncovered the discovery - or rediscovery - of barefoot running.

What he found was this:

"Hey! Human being! You know what? You evolved on this planet, and you happen to be the preeminent long-distance moving animal on this planet when you add heat, time, and distance to the equation. And that capacity that you developed was way before anything that we would consider a modern shoe. Indeed, we are ideally designed or created to perfectly move along this planet in a flowing, smooth way with the very default equipment we've been given... you are not born broken."

In this episode, we dive into:

1.
Barefoot Ted's story,

2.
how to develop proper foot strength and begin running barefoot safely,

3.
mindfulness,

4.
and the foot-brain connection.

5.
Finally, we break into Barefoot Ted's latest contribution to the world, providing us with the modern expression of an age-old design: running sandals.

C
heck out The Guide to Minimalist Sandals, make some of your own, and then head over to Luna Sandals to get your hands on some perfection in motion. I am currently walking in a pair of Venado's, running in a pair of Mono's, and soon-to-be hiking/backpacking/approaching big climbs in some Oso's.

Tell us what you're using in the comments below? Even better, send us YOUR story via the email list.
What?
You're not on the email list yet? What are you monkeying around for? Sign up below.
Before Minimalist Sandals Photo
Trying to backpack at 290 lbs, knees hurting. Check out the big boots.
Minimalist Sandal Half-Ironman
Finishing a Half-Iron just a few years later...
Episode 021 with Barefoot Ted:
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    About The Show:

    The The Brave Monkeys Speak is the climbing, cycling, adventure podcast that's not really about any of that stuff: it's about lifestyle design. How can you design your life around the things that excite you, and get better at your day job as a result? Well, listen up Monkeys. We're speaking.

    Disclaimer! Side effects of listening to this show may include:
    1. The desire to change the world.
    2. Extreme contentment with life.
    3. The desire to climb.
    4. Occasionally pooping your pants with excitement/fear.
    5. An inability to control awesome stories from pouring out of your mouth.
    6. An extreme attraction to marshall moose moore.
    7. Participation in meditation practices.
    8. Occasional unprecedented body odor.

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