The Tao of Ultrarunning



Shamelessly derived from The

Translated by Jonathan McInerneyShamelessly derived from The Tao of Programming

Book 1 - The Silent Void

Book 2 - The Ancient Masters

Book 3 - Training

Book 4 - Racing

Book 5 - Social Media

Book 6 - Gear

Epilogue

Book 1 - The Silent VoidBook 2 - The Ancient MastersBook 3 - TrainingBook 4 - RacingBook 5 - Social MediaBook 6 - GearEpilogueSomething mysterious is formed, born in the silent void. Waiting alone and unmoving, it is at once still and yet in constant motion. It is the source of all mileage. I do not know its name, so I will call it the Tao of Ultrarunning.If the Tao is great, then the training is great.If the training is great, then the aerobic capacity is great.If the aerobic capacity is great, then recovery is swift.The runner is pleased, and there is harmony in the world.The Tao of Ultrarunning flows far away and returns on the wind of morning.The Marathon gave birth to the 50K. The 50K gave birth to the 50 miler.The 50 miler gave birth to the 100 miler. Now there are ten thousand different race formats.Each race has its purpose, however humble. Each race expresses the Yin and Yang of running.Each race has its place within the Tao.But do not run a road race if you can avoid it.In the beginning was the Tao. The Tao gave birth to Pace and Distance.Therefore Pace and Distance are the Yin and Yang of running.Runners that do not comprehend the Tao are always running at the wrong pace. Runners that comprehend the Tao always cover the distance that they so wish. How could it be otherwise?The wise runner is told about Tao and follows it. The average runner is told about Tao and searches for it. The foolish runner is told about Tao and laughs at it.If it were not for laughter, there would be no Tao.He who returns from a run is not the same as he who left.---The highest sounds are hardest to hear. Slowing down is moving forward. Great talent shows itself late in life. Even a perfect race still has its lows.The runners of old were mysterious and profound. We cannot fathom their thoughts, so all we do is describe their appearance.Aware, like a fox crossing the water.Kind, like an aid station volunteer.Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.Opaque, like fizzless Cola in the midnight hour.Who can tell the secrets of their hearts and minds?The answer exists only in Tao.A novice asked the Master: "Here is a runner that follows no training plan, does not wear a belt buckle or post to Strava. Yet all who know her consider her one of the best runners in the world. Why is this?"The Master replied: "That runner has mastered the Tao.She has gone beyond the need for structured training; each of her runs are determined within the moment, serene, elegant, their purpose self-evident.She is grateful for each run; she does not despair when injured, but accepts the universe without concern.She has no care for social validation; her weekly mileage is is of no concern to anyone but herself.Truly, she has entered the mystery of Tao."The Tao is like a soft flask:used but never used up.It is like a junction in the woods:filled with infinite possibilities.It is hidden but always present.I don't know what gave birth to it.It is older than Lazarus Lake.Once, Haruki Murakami found himself running in a dream. Sprinting and dashing about, he ran within a void, his thoughts coming and going as do clouds in the midday sky. He did not know that he was Haruki Murakami running.Suddenly he woke from his dream and there he was, solid and unmistakable Haruki Murakami. But he didn't know if he was Haruki Murakami who had dreamt he was running, or Haruki Murakami who had run while dreaming.This troubled Murakami greatly. "I will ponder this on my next run."Salomon's ambassador was running in the mountains. His shoes danced upon the ridgeline. The run was coming to a close and without fault, the miles passing like a gentle wind."Excellent!" Salomon exclaimed. "Your technique is faultless!""Technique?" said Kilian, unlacing his shoes, "What I follow is Tao -- beyond all techniques! When I run in the mountains, I press on to where the Earth meets the Sky, it is there that I express the true meaning of my being! There, my senses are idles, my spirit free to follow its own instinct. In short, my legs run themselves! Yes, there are hard times, but I make my way to the aid station where the rallying cry of my friends stir the emotion within me. I pull up some chäir, pop a pizza roll in my mouth and watch the difficulties vanish like puffs of idle smoke! I then finish the race. I sit still and let the joy of running fill my being. I close my eyes for a moment and then upload to Strava."Salomon astonished, remarked, "Would that all my ambassadors were as wise!"Give a man a gel and you feed him for a moment. Teach him how to run and you feed him for a lifetime.Give a man a gel and you feed him for a moment. After 20 gels... you better give him something else.Thus spake the Master Runner:"When a race is being run, it is too late to make changes to your training."A novice asked the Master: "I have a training program that is not working. I have followed the training schedule consistently, yet I have not reached peak performance. What is the reason for this?"The Master replied: "You are confused because you do not understand Tao. Only a fool would follow a training plan such as that. You are your own self with your own unique history and qualities. Why do you expect results otherwise when this training plan nor its master has never even met you? Training plans assume determinism; only Tao is perfect.Therefore, you must contemplate Tao before you achieve peak performance.""But how will I know when I have achieved peak performance?" asked the novice."You will BQ." replied the Master.He who races does not train; he who trains does not race.A well-used door needs no oil on its hinges.A swift-flowing stream does not grow stagnant.A deer blends perfectly into the forest colors.Injured pieces of shit never heal.These are great mysteries.The Master was explaining the nature of Tao to one of his novices."The Tao is embodied in all activites -- regardless of their training effect," said the Master."Is the Tao in a long hike in the mountains?" asked the novice."It is," came the reply."Is the Tao in a recovery run?" asked the novice."It is even in a recovery run," said the Master."Is the Tao in a 5K road race?" asked the novice.The Master coughed and shifted his position slightly. "The lesson is over for today," he said.There once was a Master runner who ran wherever he pleased and for great lengths of time. A novice runner, seeking to imitate him, began to run all over the countryside. When the novice became injured and asked the Master to evaluate his progress, the Master criticized him saying, "What is appropriate for the Master is not appropriate for the novice. You must understand Tao before transcending training!"Training is all well and good, but one should not live an ankle roll away from existential peril.The Emperor of the Rockies was Walmsley, the Emperor of the Alps was Kilian, and the emperor of the Atlantic was Bolt. Walmsley and Kilian often met each other in the land of Bolt, and Bolt treated them very well. Wanting to repay Bolt's kindness, Walmsley and Kilian said, "All great runners run at least 100 miles a week. Bolt alone lacks that quantity. Let us take him training." So every day they brought Bolt out for a run, and on the seventh day Bolt was an injured piece of shit.Thus spake the Master Runner:"A well-run race is its own Heaven; a poorly-run race is its own Hell."There was once an ultrarunner who was an attendant of the Boston Athletics Association. His coach asked the ultrarunner: "Which is the better race: a marathon or the 100 miler?""A hundred mile race," replied the ultrarunner.The coach, offended, snapped in disbelief. "Surely the marathon is the true measure of peak performance," he said."Not so," said the ultrarunner, "When running a marathon, the runner operates as a mediator between the sky and the pavement, its flatness stretching out infinitely to the horizon. It is burdened by a Kafkaesque series of rules, laws, bylaws and expectations put forth by the assocation, the organization, the corporation. The experience is an afterthought.By contrast, a 100 miler is not limited by such trivialities. When running an ultra, the runner seeks the simplest harmony between mind and body. Let loose from the shackles of society, one reaches a primal state. On the trail, every step is unique, a mocking blow to all that is dull and repetitive in the world. This is why the hundred mile race is the superior race.The coach nodded and smiled. "That is all good and well, but how often do you DNF?"The runner made no reply.An ultra of a hundred miles starts with a single step.A runner from a very competitive college track team attended an ultra race and then returned to his coach, saying: "What sort of runners are these? They behaved badly and were unconcerned with pace. Their hair was long and unkempt and their clothes were salty and old. They crashed our hospitality tent, drank craft beer and made rude noises while I was stretching."The coach sighed: "I should have never sent you to that race. Those runners live beyond the physical world. They consider life absurd, an accidental coincidence. They come and go without knowing limitations. Without a care, they live only for their running. Why should they bother with social conventions?"They are alive within the Tao."May all your race reports be interesting.An exhausted runner saw the finish line was some miles away glistening at the bottom of the valley. She resorted to all her mental tricks to keep going but wearied herself in vain, for she could not beat the cutoffs. At last, she DNFed, but hid her disappointment saying: "Who cares about finishing? The belt buckle is lame anyway."The moral? There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.A novice asked the Master: "In the East, there is a great race that men call "Barkley Marathon". It is twisted and vile, pushing runners out into the wild where they must bushwhack the mountains alone. Its director issues a multitude of rules, each saying "Go Clockwise!" or "Climb the Testicle Spectacle!" and nobody knows what is meant. Every year young souls set out to finish this endeavor, but all to no avail. How can such an unnatural entity exist?The Master replied:"You perceive this immense undertaking and are disturbed that it has no rational purpose. Can you not take amusement from its endless permutations? Do you not enjoy the untroubled ease of watching the harrowing tales it produces? Why are you bothered by its uselessness?"Thus spake the Master Runner:"If a run is not uploaded to Strava, did it really happen?"There once was a man who began running in a busy municipal park. Each day as he entered, the man told the park ranger at the gate:"I am a great thief, renowned for my feats of shoplifting. Be forewarned, for this park shall not escape unplundered."This speech disturbed the park ranger greatly, because there were many a visitor in the park, so he watched the man carefully. But the man merely ran from trail to trail, humming quietly to himself.When the man left, the ranger took him aside and searched his clothes, but nothing was to be found.On the next day, the man returned and chided the ranger, saying: "I escaped with a vast booty yesterday, but today will be even better." So the ranger watched him ever more closely, but to no avail.Finally one day, the ranger could restrain his curiosity no longer. "Sir Thief," he said, "I am so perplexed, I cannot live in peace. Please enlighten me. What is it that you are stealing?"The man smiled. "I am stealing Strava segments."A certain man who visited foreign lands could talk of little when he returned to his home except the wonderful races he had finished and the great runs he had abroad.One of the feats he told about was a race he had run in the city called Chamonix. His performance was so great, he said, that no other man could run anywhere near as fast or far as he. A great many persons in Chamonix had seen him do it and that would prove that what he told was true."No need of witnesses," said one of the hearers. "Shows us on UltraSignup."The man made no reply.Thus spake the Master Runner:"You're really gonna carry all that shit for a 10k?"A Master Runner visited a novice runner one day at his home. The Master noted the novice's preoccupation with their treadmill machine."Excuse me," he said, "may I examine it?"The novice bolted to attention and demoed the device to the Master. "I see that the device has settings for pace, incline and intervals." said the Master. "Yet every such device has another setting, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human.""Pray, Great Master," implored the novice, "how does one find this mysterious setting?"The Master unplugged the device and led the novice to the front door. Suddenly, the novice was enlightened.There was once a man who was terrified of his own shadow and lived in fear of the sound of his own footsteps. Running along one day he entered a panic and tried to flee pushing up to his tempo pace. But as as fast as he ran, his shadow and footsteps kept up with him and made him run all the faster, until he finally collapsed of exhaustion and died.If only he had stopped in the shade by the aid station and sat down in comfy chäir. He would no longer have been able to see his shadow or hear his own footsteps.Thus is the tragedy of Tao.There was one a runner who ran only road races. "You should give road racing a try!" he said to his ultrarunning friend who came to visit. "There's nothing like setting down a blazing fast run on the asphalt. There are so many great races to run all around the country! And the crowds! The wholesome energy they have to share as you push yourself to your limit is just amazing! The road is consistent, fast and easy to run! Why do you not leave behind the trails and join me here?"The ultrarunner smiled, "That sounds wonderful, but it is not for me." Pausing for a moment, he continued, "You see, the Ultrarunner acts like an ancient sage, meditating in the midst of the forest. Its flora and fauna lie clustered about him like a great ocean of living things. The trail systems are as multifaceted as a diamond, and as convuluted as a primeval jungle. My course, always unique, moves through the system like a swift-flowing river. That is why I am happy where I am."The road runner, upon hearing this, fell silent. But the two runners remained friends until the end of their days.---Thus spake the Master Runner: "Time for you to go running."