Three Things for Three Days
Number one: don’t get hurt.
Number two: go through the start line every day
Number three: finish each day.
These are the goals for the next three days of trail running fifty-ish miles in the Colorado Rockies.
The first is something that I only have so much control over. If I've learned anything during training it's that my brain and my eyes do a damn good job keeping me moving over rough trail if I get out of their way. But still, tripping is both a possibility and an inevitability when there are rocks and roots and tired legs and dappled sunshine on the ground.
The second is half the battle. Show up to the start line, pass through the arch and I've done 50% of what needs to be done for the day. Just put on the pants, lace up the shoes, click the snaps of the hydration vest, don the hat, pull down the sunglasses, smear on the sunscreen. Halfway there.
The third is the unknown. The variable in the algebraic equation. Not a certainty. It's left up to the air. There are things I've done to stack the odds in my favor, and there are things I am that pull those odds back. It is, however, only half of the daily goal. Only half. Only half. Sounds like a mantra that fits nicely with the rhythm of alternately pounding feet on the earth. A melody with the bass of crunching gravel in the background.
These are the goals. These are the things for the next three days on the trail and in the waiting to be on the trail.