Danny,
I like this picture because it shows Pat (70) and myself (72) just after we finished a 50 Mile Run/Bike Relay for the fourth time as members of a 6 person team – you are either running or biking the entire 50 miles. This is part of a 200 Mile annual relay, run by the U.S. Coast Guard, called Tom’s Run.
Pat was running in the lead the last 4 miles and we were slammed by a tremendous thunderstorm during most of that. This was made even more dangerous by the fact that we were running along the C & O Canal next to the Potomac River and lightning was everywhere. There were places where we had to be extremely careful about a misstep because of our close proximity to the river bank. My gosh, the exhilaration of doing the 50 capped by the finish in a storm is something you have to experience to understand the reason for doing it. Next year we will be doing a 100 mile segment for our part of the Relay.
Needless to say that with my very gimpy knee, I wouldn’t have been able to participate if it weren’t for the lessons taught to me in ChiRunning. My stamina and gliding “heel and peel” stride have taken me to running heights that I never anticipated. I’ve been practicing ChiRunning for about 2 years and have even helped introduce it to numerous people at my gym, as well as the running group that Pat and I share. She is a neophyte ChiRunner who has been running for years, including the Marine Corp marathon, but is adapting rapidly to Chi.
I also completed my fourth Michaux Team Challenge (MTeC) in the Michaux National Forest, PA this past October. It is an adventure race of 4 person teams that includes mountain biking, orienteering, team paddling, bouldering, trail running, single strand cable river crossings, creek trailing and rock climbing among other things. Our team finished in 8 1/2 hours, and yes, I was still going. Pat and I also do numerous 5Ks, and I love to do duathlons.
I always have one of the ChiRunning CDs in the player of my truck. I drive 40 miles to work each day and listen to the same CD or parts of it time after time and then go out on my run and practice what I heard that day. There are days when I don’t listen to it but still find myself practicing the various forms in my daily routines.
Thanks very much to ChiRunning.
SK and Pat S
