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Making the Rounds
In his book Keep Going, Austin Kleon references the US Postal Service’s unofficial slogan in describing his family’s morning walk routine. “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” This morning, on a day where the Canada Post has been delayed or…
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To Know a Place, Run It: Reflections from the 2019 Polar Bear Marathon
As a runner, I believe that the best way to get to know a place is on foot. Sure, you can cover ground more quickly in a car or plane, but to really know a place, you need to get out of your vehicle, plant your feet on the land, and feel the air on…
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Prayers and Blessings
The North Face recently released a documentary called The Invisible Wall, featuring ultrarunners Mike Foote (American), Mauricio Carvajal (Mexican), Mario Mendoza Jr. (Mexican-American) as they run along the Mexico-US border. You should check it out (here). Ever since learning about the running traditions of the Tarahumara people of Mexico and the Navajo of southern US,…
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Adventure Awaits
Our desire for adventure and our desire to be safe and comfy are often at odds. Of all the adventure stories that we hold dear, most of them only really start once something fails to go according to plan. Yvon Chouinard probably put it best: It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong. I learned…
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The Oxbow
One year ago, in the midst of training for my first marathon, I heard about some crazy people who’d run 50KM – 8KM longer than a marathon! – in the Spruce Woods on the first weekend of May. At the time, a marathon was an impossibility in my mind, what did these folks think they…
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Conversing with the Land
What’s the difference between a trail and a road? Trails, our original routes of travel across the land, follow the contours of the landscape. Along the winding stream, around rocks and trees, weaving up the side of a hill. Roads, on the other hand, cut through a landscape. They carve the most direct path from…
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Ennui
Seth used a great word in a recent blog post. I’d heard it before, but I don’t think I’d ever looked up its meaning. Ennui (än-ˈwē): a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction : boredom The French loanword ennui comes from the very same Late Latin word that gave us annoy — inodiare (“to make loathsome”).…
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Running is Prayer
In the Navajo tradition, kids grow up learning about running as a part of their culture. They run east in the morning to meet the sun, and to meet the Creator. For the Navajo, running isn’t simply a way to stay physically fit, it’s a spiritual practice. Running is a form or prayer. The ancient…