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The Whole Cake

Where our outlets take us

By Samuel DybdahlPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Sweat dripping, breath heavy, sun light leaving. 112 miles in a single run. “Why would you run more than a marathon?” A common question many people have pondered, including myself before the novel COVID pandemic. It’s exhilarating to run a 5k, 10k, or half marathon. 100 miles though? You need a ‘Why’ to do something like that. And how are you going to find inner peace from suffering through a painful distance run?

In the past year, the novel COVID virus closed gyms, facilities and meeting places where we relieved stress. Hobbies on hold. I held this silly book of goals I wrote on a deployment to Afghanistan. Scrolling down the page of crossed off achievements, my finger hit “Ultramarathon.” This would be the perfect outlet during a pandemic. The trails were open. Retreating outdoors was the new jive, a way for people to generate vitamin D and physical endorphins to stave off anxiety, depression and all those other unhealthy monsters. Ultramarathon though? The best way to an answer is through the action, a profoundly personal experience untranslatable into words.

Since 2008, scientists in their white lab coats began tinkering around to physically measure the endorphins released in regular physical activity. Often people feel better after running than before, though we still can dread lacing up our shoes and moving forward. Before starting the ultramarathon, books, articles and interviews scattered across various platforms of media made it apparent: running 100 miles, you go into it expecting difficulties. Things will go wrong and you will have to figure out how to push through.

Participation in "Muleskinner 50 mile" left most runner.

So the goal was dialed in and researched, now time for execution. Fast forward through months of training and several runs 30-40 miles. Having now completed my first ultramarathon “Muleskinner 50 Mile” in PA to prepare for the future 100 mile distance, my body ached and my mind conjured up a mountain of reasons why I should stop. Though somehow I conquered. In the days following, I learned to walk again. Then something happened. I realized that having the mentality to accomplish something with so many problems, variables and pain had meaning and application for other aspects of life.

Ultramarathon could not be crossed off my list with the first 50 miler. I had only tasted the answer to why someone would run an ultramarathon and craved more, I needed to have the whole cake. 100 miles. Flat trails now bustled with people and it was time to take training to single track and harder trails for the sake of other’s health. That sounds weird, unless you know of my occupation as a Paramedic. I have been working to treat novel COVID and emergency patients this entire pandemic. I would feel awful spreading novel COVID by running near others on those increasingly crowded trails.

Enter the Metacomet trail. An alluring pathway with expansive views to witness the raw grandeur of Connecticut. Metacomet was the perfect route to train providing spans of many miles and degrees of difficulty. Months passed running on these “blue blazes” as the Metacomet trail is distinctly marked by light blue lines of paint on changing intervals of trees. Running was an escape from the invisible foe many call ‘Novel.’

A day in running for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

To spice things up for training I entered a competition to raise money for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp competing alongside 10,000 people to raise over $25,000 between charities. I entered having already done a marathon a day for 10 days in the “Surftown 100” multiday race. I accomplished The Hole in the Wall Gang camp competition having run over 30 miles a day for an entire month and placing first.

By chance, I attended a bonfire with someone I met while running countless miles by myself in the preceding pandemic months. My acquaintance communicated, “I plan on doing 112 miles from Connecticut and Massachusetts border to the shoreline near my house. There is a trail system, Metacomet. It spans the entire state of CT. One continuous run.” I was hooked and caught. Coincidence and intrigue led the conversation to timing and logistics for the following plan.

112 mile run. My mind echoing: “Did I train enough after March’s 957 miles of running?” Training spans subjectively at these distances, as you are forced to race with or against your mind. I now had the hunger to try 112 miles in one run without sleep. The Metacomet is 112 mile Elephant of single track trail that the official event “CUT” Connecticut Ultra Traverse exists to challenge worthy participants. How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. Or at least that is what Charles Engle repeated to his co-runners as he ran across the Sahara. If your goal is 100 miles, what is 12 miles more? Bah.

Inner peace came only after realized pain. Chaffing blisters, aching joints somehow highlighted the stars in the sky at mile 67. It was 3 a.m. May 17, 2021. We had been running since 6 a.m. the previous day. When life hurts and nothing goes the way we plan, where does our outlet get us? That never really mattered. It was always where our experience and outlet takes us. Ultramarathon shows us this as a tacit message as miles pass one step at a time.

healing
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About the Creator

Samuel Dybdahl

A journey through running, writing, paramedicine and sports makes it necessary to maintain positive mental and physical health. Whether it is discovering another ultramarathon or working on a series of novels, I hope to improve everyday.

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