Dual Nature Digest: June

June is probably the best month in the life of a trail runner. Snow melts and clears higher mountain trails followed by a vibrant green up and blooming wildflowers. There's a contagious energy in the trail running community from the nicer weather and open roads. People are ready to get out there - and everyone fuels each other. It makes me think back to this and my congruent urge to travel, because such a desire goes hand in hand with running. I am inclined to run, wherever I might find myself in the world.

June ends with the best bang of all: The Western States 100 mile race in California. The race that brought our sport to life, thanks to Gordy Ainsleigh and his delusional idea of going by foot in a horse race in 1974. Did you know he briefly held the world record for fastest marathon by a person weighing over 200 lbs? He also slept on a massive pile of horse shit in a sleeping bag the night before he curated the 100 mile race. Beast, that man, but you already knew that.

As you know, Justin and I are relatively new to trail running and have been scoping all the resources around the area. We joined Seattle Running Club and debuted our singlets at the Vashon Ultra/10M in the beginning of the month. We also got acquainted with Seven Hills Running Shop, Seattle's one and only trail specific running store. Thanks for the new Hokas! I'm officially a part of the clown-shoe platform gang.

Seven Hills Running Shop also hosted a movie event at their store. They played Solstice, which documents local athlete Ashley Lindsey and her debut 100 mile race at the Western States. The movie caters to the larger crowd of trail and ultra runners because she isn't part of the elite pack. I loved her outlook on the race and hope to one day take on the ultimate running endeavor of a 100 miler. The cinematography was really well done and I think even those who aren't obsessed with running would enjoy this film because running 100 miles is such an incredible feat. Watch the trailer here.

We also watched Unbreakable. Oof... this movie wasn't bad, but it was disappointing. The film featured amazing, inspiring athletes, all whom I glean motivation from, but there was way too much film wasted on shooting everyone's dinner and random acts of affection with their significant others. I got dizzy when the camera couldn't focus on the sauteed kale in Anton Krupicka's kitchen. I'd rather watch the happenings of the actual race than a ten minute choppy shot of athletes talking about their race numbers, whose conversation you can barely hear. The trailer is far more entertaining than the movie itself. Watch it here.

In other news, Justin stuck his hand in a blender earlier this month before the Vashon Ultra. I bought him some hand sanitizer to keep things from getting infected.

I'm also on the brink of simultaneously losing more toenails than ever before. To keep myself in denial and avoid flashing my bruised and blistered nails during the summer I solved my problem and painted my toes black. 

I read this article and was reminded to always make sure people know where I am when I hit the trails. Actually, this article isn't about that. It's about making sure people aren't searching for you when you are WITH THEM.

Still thinking about Gordy Ainsleigh? Watch this.

And finally, this is for all the women on the trail. Make sure you run like a girl.