Just back from the
Imogene Pass Run
and had an absolutely SPECTACULAR pilgrimage to my old h(om)eland
and one of my premier mountain venues before i broke my back.
my "race" was quite emotional as i TAF'd it would be.
hec yeah it was tough and HUMBLING on my ego seeing the Top 20 guys bolt from the Start Line and crank up, up, up the nearly 6,000' climb to Imogene Pass Summit and down, down, down into Telluride (To-Hell-You-Ride).
i no longer belong to that elite group of fleet footed mountain yogis as i once did...however, in between racing a race and just surviving a race, my return to my old San Juan Stomping Grounds taught me that there inDeed a Middle Path in between racing and surviving...
it's called, THRIVING!
sure, i've never started a race more slowly in my life.
i had to.
for i had no idea if i would make the time cut-offs if my spine injury triggered.
for all i knew, the 7-mile downhill which plummets from 13,120' at the summit to 8,820' in Telluride could easily re-paralyze my spine...
truth be told, i was scared at the Start.
so, i took my pre-race coaching counsel to WF Master Student L'Gate (Alan Ludgate) who took Pilgrimage to Imogene Pass with me, to my own Heart:
1) Relax,
and
2) Trust The Dharma
and
3) Rely Upon The Mantra.
and the Great Mountain Gods answered.
my back injury hardly flared at all.
i only had to engage the "Ilg Wheelchair" (Yogi Squat)
four times throughout the 17-mile course...that is HUGE for me!
i can rarely run more than 20 minutes before searing pain forces me into
a yogi squat to decompress decade-old bone-on-bone neural pain...
yet, this past Saturday,
up in the lofty mountain thrones of my childhood...
i felt the Chi...
i felt your Prayers...
in the same way, yet slower (WAAAY SLOWER) my race unfolded
similarly to how i used to break into that treasured Top 20;
start conservatively on the lower five miles, then,
as the pass begins to bite into every lung and leg muscle fiber
you've never known you had;
i sped up.
power traveling up the final, brutally steep and high two miles before the
summit,
i felt my core strength from all my HP PROP WORKOUTS
kick in BIG TIME and i starting churning past boatloads of racers...
heart hooked to the Summit as described in my WINTER ATHLETE book, and sailed down the treacherously steep descent,
passing another boatload of timid runners tip-toeing over the babyhead talus terrain
like a deer gone mad...
until,
well, about 2 miles from the finish...my spine retaliated and i was forced by pain
to stop twice in a short distance...losing my top twenty Age Group placing for sure
and just
Relaxing,
Trusting the Dharma,
and
Relying on the Mantra...
one mile from the Finish, i found fleet feet again,
back pain numbed and not a factor...
i started slaloming around other racers again,
focused,
strong,
sizzling toward what i considered a miracle for all those who
have broken their spines...
that's when i fell...
hit Ma Earth hard dude!!!
trying to pass a racer on questionable talus to the side of the
rutted, red road.
ilg FALLING while running!!?!?
certainly this would have been considered a Great Disgrace to the
old steve ilg...
yet,
now,
it was just fine...
i ain't no threat to any podium in this 1,100-strong field,
so i dusted myself off,
smiled at the go(o)d blood dripping from my right palm,
winced a bit at the new pain radiating from my left hip...
and
hippety hopped toward what would prove to be one of my
best finishes ever...
3 hours, 37 minutes
35th place in my Age Group,
270th Overall (1,100+ competitors)
and a whopping
12:43 per mile pace!
***
what has REALLY made my heart smile is the great times turned in by my students;
Alan Ludgate, from the Bronx, NY absolutely won the hearts of the gathered warriors...
he had zero altitude complications and finished with a beautiful time. i'll try to get him to send in a Race Report. Chris Latham, an HP PROP WORKOUT devotee of mine here in Flag, SOARED to a 3:11 in his first ever footrace! and...Sara Wagner, an Imogene rookie cranked to a sub-3 hour effort which nabbed her 3rd Place Overall in the Women's Division!
and if you have any lingering doubts that the WF Path does not produce crazy go(o)d results among sport-specific athletes?
consider the fact that my own body never, ever has felt as go(o)d after Imogene...not ONE toe blister and hardly a trace of post-Imogene acid-stiffness...the very morning after Imogene, i was able to fold my legs in Padmasana and carry on with my Early Morning Rituals as if nothing big was done within the last 24 hours...in fact, L'Gate and i hiked up and around Ouray, the morning after Imogene! that, to me, is
evidence that ilg ain't getting older,
ilg is getting YOUNGER!!!!!
can you run a 13-minute mile?
then put September 12th on your calendar next year and join me, Joy, and Dewa for one HEAVEN OF AN AMERICAN YOGI PILGRIMAGE:
IMOGENE PASS RACE!
it'll be held the day after Dewa's 2nd Birthday and we'll have a grand ol' time in the high, sweet, sacred mountains of the WF Birthplace; the mighty San Juans!
for those of you interested in Race Stats and to feed the fodder of your inspiration to join me again next year at the Imogene Pilgrimage (over 200 Flagstaff runners were there!)...
check these out...
next up in DL?
i start downloading the WF DHARMA again from among our pile of boxes at our super crazy go(o)d new home in the country!!!
know that i felt you up in the High Peaks last Saturday and
know also that your sweat, silent sittings, and support
means absolutely EVERYTHING to my Path, myself, and my family...
see you in the SanghaLounge!
love,
your ol' mountain yogi who is still out there...scared, sweating, and smiling...
***
Imogene Pass Run
Race Date: 2008-09-06
Participant Detail Information
Racer Number
696
Overall Place
270
Name
Steve Coach ILG
Overall Back
+01:19:03.04
Home Town
FLAGSTAFF AZ USA
Gender Place
215
Age
46
Total Time
03:37:43.41
Class Place
35
Class/Division Name
M 45-49
Class Back
+00:46:32.61
Pace
00:12:43.9
Final Lap
03:37:43.410
