#summer musing

There is a Light that Never Goes Out

Anyone whose an indie music lover would’ve recognized the title of this classic by The Smiths, one of my favourite tunes. That’s the first line that came to my mind when I read about trailgod Kilian’s latest race victory. It remains mind boggling what this guy does every day and every week, there’s no stopping him! Kudos to all the finishers after him though, especially Robbie Simpson, who was a mere 15 secs behind KJ. 

When I read about such races, it really substantiates how I feel about trails and running the mountains. I may not be the fastest or the strongest runner but as RS has said: “Mountain racing is so unpredictable...On the road, whoever has the best times previously normally wins, but in the mountain races there are so many uncertainties - the weather, the terrain, the steepness of the climb. Every mountain is different.” That unpredictability is what makes it so exciting, fun and challenging, when you acknowledge that the race is not against others but against yourself, both mentally and physically.

This past race season/year has been a tough one for me after the highlight of the OCC last summer. Before going through my acl and meniscus surgery, the only time I had been admitted to hospital was for a broken arm when I was about 10, so this was just about the most serious injury I had ever had (luckily), so it was a bit of struggle to adapt and figure out how to deal with it on my own. Then, I was disappointed in having to pull out of all the races I had signed up for. However, I like to think that every experience makes us stronger, so since I’ve started hiking and running again, I’ve slowly but surely built up my strength and confidence from square one. It still fascinates me how easy it is to lose everything you’ve trained for with a single injury and how long it takes to get back to even where you were before. Guess that’s why they say Rome wasn’t built in one day and yet the collapse of an empire can happen in the blink of an eye.