The Lost Boys of Yokohl Valley

The alarm is buzzing and I'm headed out to meet Tyler and Matt.  Were going running.  Tyler shows up in his white Ford pickup to carpool and we take his truck since it doesn't stand out on the country roads where cars break in's are common.  In terms of friends to run with to get faster, I'm in good company.  Tyler is a young buck who just completed the 100 mile foot race Pine to Palm.  Matt's got a real race resume taking a podium spot at half marathons.  So I'm 42 and staying young by hanging with these kids. Today we get to play in Yohohl Valley for our long run like a pack of lost boys.



In many ways, Yokohl Valley is our base camp where we have to earn it first before it gets repeated on race day.  The more time I spend out here, the more I become part of this landscape and adapt to the brutal training on sublime country roads.  Out on the road, there is peace in disconnecting from the everyday world.  If you take worries out on the road with you, you can leave them there when you return all content, exhausted and happy.



I've learned the act of running is far less difficult that the act of saying no to all those tasks that prevent you from your run.  In a way, it's a very minimalistic approach to happiness where you decide to do less things and re-allocate time to master your craft.  Running is an approach to finding happiness where it's not about what you own but what you experience that makes you feel rich.  Less stuff, more life. When I carve out time to go for a run its hard to say no but its all part of the process of unbecoming those parts of society that arn't really you.  



As Michelangelo once said “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it”. 


Train your Athletic Mindset to think the following:

• “I believed I could so I did”.
• “Choose between what you want now and what you want most”.   
• “Qualifying for Boston demands and defines the person I want to be”.
• “You’ve got what it takes but it will take everything you’ve got”.
• "Starve your distractions to feed your focus"
• "Take a hold of the present day"
• "You always have another gear so when your legs give out run with your heart".

The simple act of arriving in Yokohl Valley for my weekly long run sets the stoke meter clearly off the chart, as Tyler would say.  We escape out here to wide open spaces that have escaped urban sprawl.  Its our backyard where nature is within reach.  Our little sanctuary where through the eyes of a runner we find our lost Eden.   Out in the country, a sunrise looks different than suburbia.  A sunrise happens every day out here and you can choose to put yourself in the way of beauty. 



To be continued...