Discover Top Posts Tagged with #summer musing

unspeak

sloping toward the creek the grass grew darker until it reached the fuzzy edge of sight as the roof melted into melded with drowsy beads of sweat and liquid longing

#poem #poetry #summer musing

. Peu après les Mondiaux de course de montagne à Premana (ITA), les meilleurs mondiaux avaient rendez-vous dimanche à Sierre-Zinal pour la 44e édition de la Course des cinq 4000, la plus prestigieuse de la planète. Avant le lever du jour, quelque 2400 populaires sont partis de Sierre à l’assaut des 31 km pour 1800...

There is a Light that Never Goes Out

Anyone whose an indie music lover would’ve recognized the title of this classic by The Smiths, one of my favourite tunes. That’s the first line that came to my mind when I read about trailgod Kilian’s latest race victory. It remains mind boggling what this guy does every day and every week, there’s no stopping him! Kudos to all the finishers after him though, especially Robbie Simpson, who was a mere 15 secs behind KJ.

When I read about such races, it really substantiates how I feel about trails and running the mountains. I may not be the fastest or the strongest runner but as RS has said: “Mountain racing is so unpredictable...On the road, whoever has the best times previously normally wins, but in the mountain races there are so many uncertainties - the weather, the terrain, the steepness of the climb. Every mountain is different.” That unpredictability is what makes it so exciting, fun and challenging, when you acknowledge that the race is not against others but against yourself, both mentally and physically.

This past race season/year has been a tough one for me after the highlight of the OCC last summer. Before going through my acl and meniscus surgery, the only time I had been admitted to hospital was for a broken arm when I was about 10, so this was just about the most serious injury I had ever had (luckily), so it was a bit of struggle to adapt and figure out how to deal with it on my own. Then, I was disappointed in having to pull out of all the races I had signed up for. However, I like to think that every experience makes us stronger, so since I’ve started hiking and running again, I’ve slowly but surely built up my strength and confidence from square one. It still fascinates me how easy it is to lose everything you’ve trained for with a single injury and how long it takes to get back to even where you were before. Guess that’s why they say Rome wasn’t built in one day and yet the collapse of an empire can happen in the blink of an eye.

I had to forget about timing and just focus on regaining muscle memory. In Singapore, I had also stopped running mountains so I was not used to the climbs in Hong Kong, even to the Peak. I remember the first time I joined my friends whom I had known from before Hong Kong and they were sailing up Old Peak Road while I huffed and puffed taking ample pauses in between sections. Two months later, by persevering, I’ve noted the incremental improvements and although I’m not 100% yet, I know I can and will be. Am I nervous heading back to my first trail race of the season in a couple weeks time? A resounding yes. But to get to the next confidence boost I know that it’s a test and leap of faith I’ll have to take. In my own way, there’s no stopping me on the trails either, and that, for me, is the light that will never go out.