One thing I have noticed in all of my travels over the past few years is that no matter what is going on in the world, the DHS Threat Level is always seems to be at Orange (high)- or so the announcements always say at the airports. It seems to have been stuck on Orange since the September 11th attacks and I wouldn’t wager that that fact will change anytime soon. Even so, that is a long time to be on high alert, nearly 8 years.
I am a very introspective person, a sensitive and someone who has committed myself to my own continuous self improvement and evolution. I have faced down some of life’s biggest challenges and come through them with many lessons. Even so, for the past 4 years since my return from living in London, I have more or less existed in a state of semi or complete existential crisis or quarter life crisis or crisis of confidence, whatever you want to call it, I have been at least ankle deep in it since then. I have been living in my own Threat Level Orange. That is not to say that every moment of every day is crisis, it is more that no matter how good things are, the crisis, the doubt, the searching, the hopelessness has never left for long enough to feel confident it is not coming back. In a way, despite all the learning, all the searching, all the self work, all the life in between now and then, nothing has really changed. Or has it?
While I was running today, I was reflecting on the above mentioned “crisis”. I was thinking about it because I know a lot of people who are all going through their own permutation of such a crisis. The more I thought about it, the more I was able to accept something that I have “known” for a long time: Life will always have challenges, problems and issues. When we finally accept that there will be both good times and bad times and we will go through them and come out the other side, we can find inspiration and motivation to face things head on instead of just wallowing around in our own mucky. At this point in my life, I have probably already been through worse (or at least things on par) and have come through still alive, still kicking, still with my face upturned towards the light. Oh bla di Oh bla da life goes on. I spent so much time trying to figure out the right path I should be taking, instead of realizing that I am on my Way already. Somewhere along the line, I gave up my personal power and just started waiting for things to get better first, for the time to be right, for me to know all the steps before proceeding. And so, I have maintained my Threat Level Orange state. Maybe I got use to it, like Americans have gotten use to the DHS level or maybe I gave into the feelings/crisis for so long that now I am too petrified to move. Like standing on a diving board, it doesn’t get easier the longer you stand there.
I have “looked” for long enough, it is just time for me to leap.
Before my run, I was reading Zen Habits’ blog about Two Questions to Help you Gain Perspective. His second question: Based on your current actions and behaviours, where would you expect to be in five years? is something I have been actively thinking about for the entire month of July. I have realized, as I mentioned above, that I let myself become paralyzed, waiting etc. It is no wonder that nothing has changed- my actions of the past few years have dictated it to be so. This entire month I have not only been actively thinking about it, I have been DOING something about.
My training for TransRockies is the embodiment of this mentality. I don’t think I have ever trained this hard for a race before. Of course, that is really saying something since I have trained my ass off for all of my races in life. But this time is different. I have not allowed myself to cut corners, to opt out when things get hard, to wait until I felt good or motivated, etc. Today I was on my run, a rough 23 miler in the Headlands on a super windy day, doing lots of hills. My legs were feeling rough, my energy down because I did 27 miles on the road yesterday. Neither yesterday, nor today was I particularly rearing to go on my run, but I just got out the door and put one foot in front of the other. And in the end, while not the best running I have ever done, I did the work that is a part of the bigger picture of what I am training for. I did not take the easy way out. I stuck to my training schedule and dug in. I faced down the hard stuff and got through it. That made the last two days of training so valuable. And all of my training for TransRockies has been this way. I went into this month of training, after recovering from WC100k, feeling very unsure of myself as a mountain runner. For my entire career, I have never met a hill I didn’t want to walk. When training, I rarely pushed myself on hills unless I felt good that day (and thus, I never felt good on hills). But now, I am pushing myself up 5,000 feet of elevation (each) in back to back 30 milers (like this past Sat/Sun) or back to back to back 20+ milers (like the week before that). Suddenly, I am a force to be reckoned with on the hills and how long did it take? 3 weeks of committing myself to it. I do not feel intimidated by the thought of 6 brutal days at altitude, running 113 miles at race pace. I have been doing the serious work to achieve my goal of being fit for this race.
Every year, I make a list of goals of things I want to accomplish and about 6 months later, I examine the list (which I keep with me) and go, wow none of these magically became true. I feign surprise but I know it is because I was not committing to it. Thus change or achieving those goals was not really something I wanted to see happen or was actively cultivating. But this month, now, I am realizing that all that wading through the mud was in fact slow steps forward, it was progress. I have been taking the long road and sabotaging myself all along, but I am starting to feel the reins back in my own hands. I am starting to understand truly that I am not stuck slowly walking up the hill of my own life, I am fully empowered to learn to run up the climb, to sow the seeds of which I desire to reap. Now is the time, for the first time in a long time, I am an active participant in my own life, instead of passively waiting for life to come to me. I am eager to see what I have in store for life, instead of waiting to see what it has in store for me.
The first pair of trail running shoes I ever bought were Salomons. I loved them. In fact, I wore the same pair of Salomons for the entirety of my first year of ultrarunning. I didn’t want to wear any other shoes. They fit my feet, my running style, and what I want in shoes. After getting into the ultrarunning world, I dreamed of someday being a part of the Salomon racing team. Not only do they make amazing shoes, fantastic clothes, they have a fantastic team of talented runners. It is a small, tight-knit, committed group according to my friend and Salomon runner, Glen Redpath. Sounds like my kind of team. In fact, this year I took no shoe sponsorship because I didn’t want to run in a product that I wasn’t fully behind. I would rather pay for shoes that work and I like, than be sponsored by a company that doesn’t make shoes that work for me. But now, after 3 years, many miles, races and pairs of shoes, I am excited to announce that I am officially part of Salomons Racing Team! I am super stoked and so proud to be representing such a great company. I am very grateful to the team and to the company for inviting me into their family, it is an honor for me to be able to represent for a company that I firmly believe in.
Fast Foodie Bibimbap
At the beginning of this year, I was motivated. I was driven. I was ready to establish my food writing as consistent and present. I wanted to share my love for cooking, my navigation through my eating special needs and my support of my nutritional needs from endurance sport. I thought and still think I have something unique to offer. But I have fallen short in my follow through. Good intentions only take you so far, commitment and doing the work produce results. I have dreams, no goals of writing as a living, both food and sport. But in order to make that happen, I have to dig in and do the work. Much like my running. There are many good reasons I have not been as consistent as I like, but none of them are good and none of them will produce the results I want. Now that things have simmered down, I have had time to think about what I really do want. And I have renewed my commitment to my goals. They are goals, not pipe dreams. I have spent a good amount of time in the past 5 years waiting for the right moment, or trying to figure out the right direction, or mostly just trying to make it through the day. But inherently, all that brooding produces no tangible results, no change, nothing. So what is the answer? Just do it. I just have to put myself on the line, do the work and put one foot in front of the other. I am taking a page out of my own book (of running) and going after my goals.
What that means, my dear reader is that I am back, I am committed and I will be here and present. Doing what I love, cooking up a storm, writing amazing delicious, nutritious (and special needs) recipes, working on my food memoir, taking food photography and bringing it all to you here! Stay tuned.
To start myself off, after a 2 day-60 mile weekend, I decided to make a rendition of bibimbap. I have been reading Hungry Monkey and he talks about making bibimbap with his daughter. There is also a children’s book by the same name (Bee-Bim Bop by Linda Sue Park) which I really liked to read to my preschoolers when I was doing storytime at the Seattle Public Library. Wikipedia defines: Bibimbap (Korean pronunciation: [pibimp͈ap̚] ) is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means “mixed rice” or “mixed meal.” Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.It can be served either cold or hot. That is my kind of definition, so I decided to build my own and the results were super tasty. I strayed away from some of the traditional Korean flavor profiles, kept it vegan and gluten free and threw on some spicy kim chee. It was delicious, simple and filling.
Bibimbap
1 cup saffron rice, cooked
1 tbsp. peanut oil
1 cup broccoli , diced
1 cup brussel sprouts, diced
1 cup braising greens, diced
½ cup green beans, diced
¼ cup bell pepper, diced
1 pkg hot and spicy baked tofu
2 tbsp. cilantro
¼ cup kim chee
Directions:
Cook saffron rice according to directions.
In a large skillet, heat peanut oil over medium high heat. Add in all the vegetables (chopped small) and sautee until crisp tender. Spice with chili powder, 5 spice and salt (or whatever spices you choose!). Stir in 1 cup of cooked rice and cook for a minute.
Top with baked tofu, cilantro and kim chee.
