Dreams Beyond Reality

  Dreams Beyond Reality is an organization that encourages personal and professional growth.  

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Cairo is #Cairo. A place devoid of analog. The fallen #Pharaonic empire reduced to the wreckage left by grave robbers and common conmen. Each day, the sun pushes through the sandy haze of morning, almost as if in direct opposition to a world that resists it. Cairo is grit and blind determination. A hot, percolating cauldron randomly releasing ‘horns’ and ‘shouts’ and ‘special offers’ as it stews day after day. And yet life moves forward, griping tightly to the same #Northstar dreams that guided dreamers 2000 years before Christ. The same inextinguishable ember of hope burns, smoldering and igniting the #dreamsBeyondReality. The streets move like sand caught in a gentle breeze; undulating between the cracks and caverns that sprawl across the city. Tomorrow will be better than today. The next better than the last. Hope and determination set the backdrop of a city struggling to return to greatness. (at The Great Pyramids Of Egypt) https://www.instagram.com/dreamsbeyondreality/p/BuZm8DmBw12/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1q4qczfn9za6x

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Sometimes, the best places are at the top of a ladder and above a 5000 ft ascent. @run_like_hell and i found one of those places. #Sofia #Bulgaria #MtVitosha #dreamsbeyondreality https://www.instagram.com/p/BowthZEgv-g/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=g4tzfqgg5pz0

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Sometimes, when you keep climbing, you’ll end up somewhere beyond your #dreamsBeyondReality Getting in an end of the season #MtVitosha summit with @run_like_hell https://www.instagram.com/p/BouLgKSg1tl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15n2m0k7ddn07

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Contemplations While Tapering ~ 10 Days Until Western States 100 And so begins the taper. Which is, arguably, the most difficult phase of training. Mere days before, I was desperately squeezing real life into an unrealistic running schedule. Searching for time where no time was to be found. When I wasn’t running, I was either preparing for or recovering from a run. A beautiful, building chaos that suddenly... ends. Like losing power during the climatic part of rock song. So much potential energy and then nothing. The taper. So on this, my first taper day before #WesternStates100, I found a sunny patch of grass in a public park. Glorified by an unobstructed view of #MtVitosha and a gentle, #Bulgarian breeze carrying the sweet smell of #Banitsa. I thought a lot about how blessed I have been to be in this place and time in my life. To have this beautiful mountain in my backyard and the ability to utilize it. It is interesting how much training changes us. And in more than the obvious physical sense. It is as if we become part of a place and the place reciprocates. It splices and reworks DNA and something new emerges. Over the past few months, I have ascended about 100,000 feet. Traversed over 1000 miles. Fucked my shit up on more rocks and roots and paved places than I can remember. Destroyed two pair of #Altras and gave up on running no less than 20 times. The mountains were simultaneously my savior and tormentor. But one particular day is the epitome of training for this monumental race. A day that began in the darkness of cloud-cover. Rain pelted the metal parts of our apartment while we waited anxiously for the sun to overpower the storm. “Bad weather, at the beginning of a run, is usually a bad omen.” I told Cassandra “It makes it harder to muster the necessary optimism.” When it became clear that the rain would not let up, I made my way out the door and toward the trailhead. When I got to the trailhead, it became obvious that it was going to be a hard day at the office. Rushing water covered the places that trail once was. Each step was to be taken in direct opposition of the current. I pushed the start button on my #Suunto and began my ascent. (at Vitosha)

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Breathe Many times, it is the most basic functions that a separate a goal from an attempt. Remaining positive. Being patient. Remembering to breathe. Over the next several weeks, I plan to release some of the useful training ideas that helped me to finish #LaUltra 333km. For all of you 2018 hopefuls, I hope that in some small way, they help you to finish the race. Tip: As you are training for LaUltra, remember that the race is a test of your patience and self governance. Most important of which is your ability to govern your breathing. At altitude, the available oxygen will be around 40% of what you are used to. Fuck the technology. Pay attention to your breathing. Keep your respiratory rate comfortable at all times. If you find yourself gasping for air, slow down. If you are on an incline, interval. The most important thing that you can do is to keep your breathing steady and comfortable. Especially in the beginning when you fell like running much faster. As you train, practice increasing your pace until your breathing becomes heavy. Then, scale back to return your breath to a comfortable respiratory rate. #dreamsBeyondReality (at Larnaca, Cyprus)

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The sun betrayed the cool breeze blowing against us as we made our way along the beach in southern #Cyprus. In the distance, clouds resembling dark mushrooms moved slowly across the ocean. The large funnel that connected the water and the sky was either pouring or pulling water; floating like invading alien aircraft, circling and destroying whatever stood in their path. When we first arrived, these clouds clustered together, far offshore. But as we hurried our way across the beachfront and corral, we must have disturbed their busied work. One of the clouds began to make its way toward us - separating itself from the others - abandoning whatever it was doing before. When the cloud caught up, it cast a dark shadow upon us and the sun rescinded it’s warmth. The cool winds came in unopposed, cooling our exposed skin to numbed, whitened flesh. To keep warm, we needed to run faster. Fast enough to outpace the cloud and return to unobstructed sunshine. As Cassandra and I gained ground, the cloud gained pace. Each ray of sunshine came at the cost of increased effort. When we got back to the car, our muscles burned. Our breath was heavy and labored. The cloud receded back into the backdrop of the ocean. It’s work for the day was done. In the wind we heard faintly yet clearly “Hope to train with you again, really soon.” Training in Cyprus strengthens to soul. It is as if the island becomes part of you. Becomes something extra when all else has been depleted. The #dreamsBeyondReality (at Ayia Napa 2018)

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Sometimes, the only way to solve a big problem. I mean, the really, really big, uncertain, out-of-control, ostensibly never-ending problems that blind us with passion and temper and torment is with a nice, big hug. Stuck in a repeat-loop of frustration? Try to hug your out of the issue. Even if it doesn’t work, a world filled with hugs is a pretty awesome place to live. Be good. Live the #dreamsBeyondReality (at Thessaloníki)

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Each day the dust man wets the roads. Hose in hand, he sprays clear Himalayan glacial water across the busy streets of #Leh. In all but a moment, all colors of the rainbow sparkle as the bright sunshine makes its acquaintance. It's a new day. A fresh start. The fine-brown dust of yesterday is now washed away, making way for a future of boundless possibility. The scooties may now scoot along. The taxis may now take their fares. The shopkeepers are clear to sell pashmina scarves and embroidery items. And the dust man pauses, for the slightest of moments, with the slightest of smiles betraying his determined eyes. His duty is done. The path is clear. He rests butt on ankles watching the future unfold. (at Leh ladakh)

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Running at eighteen thousand feet feels like resisting slow suffocation. The lungs frantically fill with oxygen-less air. As with the shipwrecked that drink salty ocean water as a last attempt to quench their thirst. The body betrays the mind that knows too well that relief will never come. It simply goes though the motions more forcefully. The body fights harder. The heart pumps harder. The lower-jaw locks open and tilted, widening the passageway into the lungs. The body becomes heavier. Muscles weaker. The mind, more determined to push through. To take the path of most resistance. Running somewhere between dream and consciousness. Looking off into the distance for any sign of decent. (at Pangong Lake, Ladakh)

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Goosebumps Wind thrusts across the valleys and high plains and low plains in #iceland without warning. When the wind picks up, the temperature drops and in minutes summons its Arctic chill. Summer becomes winter as the wind whisks away the warm air so laboriously created by the Sun. Each moment is remarkable and generally unpredictable, except to those that expect the exceptional. And the ground, like skin, chills and goosebumps against the change showing pockets of grass that spot the landscape. When the sun is strong and the wind moves slowly like warm breath moves across a sleeping child's lips; make your way into the mountains and unto the water and into the valleys while you are able because the wind is always changing. Seize your moment; live your #dreamsBeyondReality #Þingvellir #chasingSummer (at Pingvellir)

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It is amazing to think of the places that a pair of Altras can take you. On a Friday night, in the middle of May, we made our way across the trails leaving Skogar, Iceland. A long trail run through rivers and across glaciers and up rocky winding ridges. The sun, always shining as if stuck at 4 pm, through the afternoon and the evening that followed. Volcanic rocky edges pierced through peat-moss blankets that covered the landscape as far as the eye could see. When foot-pressure was applied, the earth slowly sank in like a playground designed by an over-protective parent. Iceland is a patchwork of clusters of moss and of stone and the remains of volcanic eruptions. Where dirt is found, the ground is soft. Where moss is found, the ground is softer still. When feet wander away from the dirt and the stone, accidentally colliding with ancient green moss; the cold water retained of the icecaps and glaciers flood footwear as the moss transforms into a spongy puddle. A place like no other place. A timeless experience. Like exploring the surface of Mars. We made our way until the cloud-cover permitted no more and we made our way back to the place where we began. Silent. Overwhelmed. Inspired. Finding the #dreamsBeyondReality

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I remember what used to break me during a marathon. Humidity. Intense rain. Sweltering heat. Blinding sunshine. I remember wondering why marathon race directors didn't call off the race when temperatures creeped into the high 80s and the sunlight was met with no resistance. "26 miles of this shit?" I would say as I trudged along sidewalks and around street corners and by hunched-over hopefuls. Then I started running #Ultramarathons. They don't call ultramarathons. Not for rain. Not for heat. Not for lightning or for whatever Mother Nature conjures. Extreme conditions has become one of the things that I most enjoy about them. (Don't judge) In fact, many races also take pride in the added difficulty these parenthetical features create. To that point, the advertising for these races is amazing. If I were to read a advertisement for an ultramarathon like "Be the first to finish the Erupting Volcano 100 Miler, the hottest race on the planet" I would probably register. And where one marathon used to supply all of the satisfaction I required, now it takes much more. And while searching for the required satisfaction, I continually search for my limit. This weekend, I will attempt a bit of nastiness in #KualaLumpur #Malaysia and see if I can yet find my limit. The race is being advertised as the "Hardest race in Malaysia." It is 250k in distance and is farther than I have ever run. That distance is close to the equivalent of running 6 full marathons back to back. Though 100 degree, high humidity heat. Through thunderstorm filled nights and shadeless sunny days. It is going to be so brutal. It is going to be so much fun. So if you are in KL around the 17th of March, stop by and give me a high-five. Come watch me as I chase my #dreamsBeyondReality (at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

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Pressure and Time Probably the most powerful combination in existence. Pressure and Time. Proud parents of all things and places and variations of all of the stuff in the Universe. A reminder that nothing is impossible, but merely improbable. To that fact I add that on a long enough timeline, even the improbable evolves to become probable. While there are many external pressures applying themselves to our lives each day, we too have the ability to introduce pressure on our own lives. An if we stick with something long enough. Continue to work toward something, over a long enough timeline, we will eventually achieve our #dreamsBeyondReality About the Photo: This photo was taken in #KotaKinabalu #Malaysia while visiting a headhunter tribe. One of the villagers taught me how to start fire from dried out bamboo. An amazing and fundamental example of what can be accomplished through pressure and time. (at Kota Kinabalu)

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Back to the basics Okay. Be honest with yourself. When was the last time that you climbed a tree? Or cannonballed, carelessly in a public pool? When did what other people think of you start mattering? We are naturally creatures of play and curiosity. These behaviors are not reserved solely for the young in age but are lifelong gifts for the young at heart. Never stop playing or living life in the #dreamsBeyondReality (at Valencia,Spain)

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Conquering Ice With Ice There is a riddle about how a can person create fire from ice. Strange to think about at first because ice is water; the chief adversary to fire. Not to spoil it for you before you get your fingers-a-Googling but the answer is to sculpt the ice into a magnifying glass and harness sunlight to make fire. Okay, now you can google it. There are some amazing videos of people doing it. This track of thought landed me somewhere deep within the #Balkans #MountainRange in #Bulgaria running endless hill repeats. #LaUltra is going to require summits through glaciers and ice crevasses high atop the #Himalayas. Terrain I generally struggle with more than other runners. But like sculpting a lens from ice, I too will sculpt my running with the very climate and terrain that I fear the most. The Balkans are freezing and icy and amazingly difficult to navigate; elements required to refine the rough-edges of my capabilities. Conquering ice with ice. Getting me ready to chase my #dreamsBeyondReality Take head-on those things that scare you the most. Before you know it, you'll find them to be the source of new-found strength (at Balkan, Khaskovo, Bulgaria)

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Truth Truth is an interesting phenomenon. It is initially resisted with all of the defiance and determination mankind can muster. With each fiber of our being we denounce it. Men end men to keep Earth flat, the sun at the center of the universe, inequality of color or gender or nationality alive. But eventually our thinking evolves. We catch up to Truth. And once this happens, we wonder how mankind could have doubted its existence. Contradicted the obviousness of it. Truth transforms into platitude or axiom. Why are we so resistant to Truth? Maybe it is what Truth requires of us? Truth is constant and unwavering, unchangeable, therefore WE must change to understand it. We must accept the limits of our understanding and acknowledge the fallibility of our beliefs to achieve Truth's enlightenment. Maybe it's the nature of our world that creates such resistance? A world filled with posturing and politicizing and creating brand awareness. We accept and except our leaders to lie to us. Our friends to deceive us. Our neighbors to be our enemies. In either case, Truth feels awkward. Cumbersome. Sometimes even course. And for those that speak Truth publicly in an effort to enlighten the world around them, the rewards are dire and dangerous. Many a prophet or philosopher endured a shortened life for ideas we now accept as obvious. Socrates was one such man. Considered to be the father of Western Philosophy, Socrates was jailed and sentenced to death by ingestion of Hemlock for simply speaking Truth. His Truth influences modern culture, our understanding of right and wrong and formed the foundation for modern thought. Socrates was a great man yet those not ready to hear Truth, struck him down. His last moments were spent with his followers and friends in the jail pictured in this post. A small cave located in Filopappou Hill in #Athens #Greece. An amazing find during one of our runs. So in honor of discovering of such an amazing place on our travels, I encourage you to open yourself up to new ideas. Welcome new ideas. They will light the way to you #dreamsBeyondReality (at Athens, Greece)

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Somewhere Beyond Anywhere The innocent whistle of schoolchildren echo beyond the trees and the rolling green hills. The #MalabarWhistlingThrush delight in the fruit fallen from branches that could no longer hold on to their bounty. Growers of tea and of exotic spices meander across fields overflowing with harvest. My feet sweep across the soft brown soil liberating clouds of dust in my wake. I run effortlessly upon a soft, dirt-covered road. The road winds and wraps around hillsides to places far beyond what the plain eyes can see. Hiding at times. Divulging at times; in a sort of seductive dance that tempts the spirit. In these hills of #Munnar #India, lines blur between dream and reality. Like a slow, relaxing exhale, it provides empowerment and optimism. A beautiful reminder of the #dreamsBeyondReality (at Munnar, Maharashtra, India)