Running for my Life: A Journey through Space and Time

Overview

My running journey led me to extreme highs, but has also plunged me bipolar-like into the depths of depression after June 2000, when an injury crippled my running life. I felt discouraged and depressed, and those feelings became apparent in my writing.

When I think back to that time, I realize that writing had become my therapy, my way to understand my own fears and to express a hope I did not yet feel. When the pain from my injury subsided-it took six long months-I felt the adrenaline urge again, but this time I replaced competitive racing with slow, long-distance running. Similarly, my writing style also changed: I started to write how I felt during those long runs in the form of race reports-instead of poetry-to memorialize my ultra-marathon experiences. My running life had finally pushed me forward into positive places on the trails and my spirit of running was renewed.

As I re-read Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man, after completing my own Zen Track Rambling I realized there was a lot more to the story and sat down to write a prequel and sequel to capture my experience before and after ZTR. Running for my Life: An Iowa Boy's Journey covers my early years growing up in the Iowa countryside, some running through Navy service (not as much as I should have!), falling out of the running habit then grasping running again to work through a difficult time in my first PhD program. The re-entry into running occurred November 1981 and has continued unabated until the present. Indeed my foray into ultramarathoning commenced after my 60th birthday and as of this writing has yet to end!