May the Forest Be With You...
                            An Exercise in Self Care.

Straight up Old Buck to start (ugh) our run, up and then across Old Buck Access Trail, down Mushroom Trail and onto the relentless descent of Ned’s, brief stint on Powerline, now heading back along Bridle Path, wrong turn onto Forever Trail, oops – don’t turn back now… continue back up to Powerline, up yet more to Baden Powell Trail, traverse west to Old Buck Trail, straight drop back down to the parking lot. 15km under fleet foot.

Nine of us this Sunday morning (Nov. 13th) – third Sunday in the past month - Paul, Bev, Oliver, Luke, Dimitri, Mariko, Leandro, PJ and me. Little longer each time out.  Time to switch off the mind... only to turn it on in a different mode.

Nov. 13, 2016 - Mount Seymour Run      Photo credit: Paul Johnson

Streams of run-off often follow the trail directly making some sections treacherous. Slips and falls, twists and tweaks are common. Blood sugar levels wane and the next drink of water (or tea or coffee or hot chocolate) is 10,000 or so steps away. Fog rolls in or the wind whips up and suddenly you’re cold again. You take wrong turns or get behind. We're wise enough to plod, trot or race ahead in at least twosomes. Watch out for the mountain bikers. The hazards, along with the pumping heart, are palpable. But that’s the literal luxury and beauty of Vancouver. Steps away and we are into the wilderness, while steps away remains a house, a helicopter or a hospital. Nonetheless, respect of self and nature is still required.

The uphill is what makes the chest and legs burn, but it's the tricky downhill that slows or stops most in their tracks. Improvised, fast footwork is the key to speed on these sections. There are a few specific footwork strategies that can be developed. In the end, though, you could traverse down the exact same trail ten or twenty times, employ the same skills and strategies, letting the balls of your feet punch a passcode into the path before you. The pattern created by those steps punches in a new password each time. No two times the same, no two people the same. A code never to be hacked. Can you tell I really dig downhills?! 

So… how, exactly, is this self care? Well, after the inevitable stiffness and reservations of an early Sunday morning, and despite the occasional twinge in the knee or sharp pain in the hip, there is all that is good and right and that has everything to do with self-care…

- the comraderie with folks, before/during & after, who value the same experience;
- being together but alone; disconnected from the "noise" of mind and urban life;
- being connected to and moving amongst the trees, rocks, dirt, streams, boardwalks;
- circulatory system in overdrive; fresh mountain oxygen and moisture racing through my blood and cells;
- warming - en route - of my cold nose, knees and fingers;
- rush of being virtually out of control on the technical descents – one moment cringing and - toe-gripping, the next moment tilting the body further forward and grinning at tree roots;
- taking a leap, literally - over a stream, down a drop, onto a rock;
- hurried stripping-off of sweat-and-rain-soaked clothes;
- the comfort of fresh, dry, warm layers - aaaah;
- a smoothie or coffee seeping down my throat, with a muffin or soup.

This kind of running - in the forest - is but one manifestation of the embodiment of self care. It is meditative – with periods of silence, with incredible focus on the present, with energies shared and with control and awareness of your breath.

Thank you Fine Body, thank you Friends, thank you Forest!