Running in Bluff

Last Saturday my wife and I headed out of town for a vacation to Bluff, UT (population 320).  We were planning to use this little town as the jumping off point to allow us to visit several National Parks in the Southern Utah area and just get in a week of relaxation.  I was excited about the trip because it would allow me to still keep training for the marathon but also recharge my batteries.  What I didn't expect was how much running in this little town would allow me to reset my mind.  As I logged my miles I found that I was emptying my brain of all negativity.  I was truly thinking of nothing and simply focusing on just one thing - the run.  It was a truly Zen like experience.  

On Sunday I got up early to get in my last 10 mile run.  I had mapped out a simple loop through the town and surrounding farm land.  Bluff sits at 4,324′ elevation.  This made the first couple of miles seem a little more difficult despite the fact that I was taking it slow and easy.  However, when my mind suddenly emptied and I was just running in the moment the difficulty disappeared.  I stopped looking at my watch and just drank in the surroundings.  On one side of me was sandstone formations and the other farms with cottonwood trees in the peak of their fall colors.  It was truly serene.  All I could hear was my footsteps and breathing.  Before I knew it, I was nearing the turn back to the house we had rented.  I stopped running and finally looked at my watch to find that I had just run 10 miles at an 8:30 per mile pace and didn't feel fatigued at all.

Over the next 4 training runs I experienced the same sensations.  I was running harder than I had at anytime during the last 16 weeks of training.  But for some reason it seemed easy.  All I could think about as I logged my miles was the beauty of the surrounding area.  Twice I saw a small herd of deer cross the road in front of me.  They didn't startle when they saw me.  The just continued on their way.  As I reflect back on those early morning runs and seeing nature's beauty along the way, I realized that I felt truly alive.  I know that I can't live without the ability to run.  I could exist in the world.  But I couldn't truly live.

My last in run Bluff was on Saturday October 29.  I had come to really love this little town as a place to run.  It is so peaceful and the scenery is so different from Scottsdale.  The yellow of the cottonwoods and the buff colored cliffs and mesas made each run so relaxing.  I ran some of my fastest miles there which I know is partly because of the cooler temperatures.  But it was more about the serenity the surroundings provided me.  I will miss Bluff.  Maybe I will get a chance to come back again in the future.  If that is not in the cards, I will have the wonderful memories of the miles I logged there and how powerful they made me feel.  Next stop is the New York City marathon and the polar opposite of this hidden little gem of a town

Oct. 23 – 10.10 miles (1:25:34, 8:28 pace)
Oct. 24– 8.10 miles (1:10:36, 8:43 pace)
Oct. 25 – 9.50 miles (1:22:00, 8:38 pace) - Mile Repeats
Oct. 27 – 10.20 miles (1:25:18, 8:28 pace) - Tempo Run
Oct. 28 – 7.20 miles (1:01:23, 8:38 pace)
Oct. 29 – 8.20 miles (1:10:48, 8:38 pace)
Oct. 30 – 8.20 miles (1:11:59, 8:47 pace)

Total Miles:  61.5 miles
2016 Total Miles:  1,808.4 miles