- - - DailyStaley.com - - - » Race http://www.dailystaley.com The Official Blog of Ben Staley Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:05:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The Race – Chapter? http://www.dailystaley.com/2010/02/17/the-race-chapter/ http://www.dailystaley.com/2010/02/17/the-race-chapter/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:49:32 +0000 Staley http://www.dailystaley.com/?p=1996 Life is like an EKG. Waves rise and fall. Up and down. I was riding high. Running every day. Feeling stronger. Lighter. Younger even. Last Sunday was to be my first 5 mile run. But I worked all weekend. Shooting late on Saturday and then up early for a 12 hour shoot Sunday. Happy Valentines day to me.  So I put of the run until Monday. I was tired Monday and my left knee was a little sore so I went to the gym instead of running outside. 5 easy miles on the treadmill. Less impact. But after about 15 minutes my knee was hurting bad enough to slow my pace so I quit. Pushed some weights for about 45 minutes and sat in the sauna for another 20. Now it’s Wednesday and I haven’t worked out since. The knee still hurts. I don’t really know what to do. I was starting to really enjoy the training. The schedule. I didn’t have to think about it. Just get up and do what the schedule said I needed to do for the day. I liked that. A lot. Now there’s a weird limbo. The outcome is less certain. I don’t want to hurt my knees. I do want to run the race. I think starting tomorrow I will begin training in the gym. Low impact cardio. Machines. I really hate that. I get bored so easy. I was really enjoying being outside. Feeling the air. Discovering new trails. Last week I passed a large white bird on the side of the trail. It was about 4 feet tall, standing on one long leg. It looked like a sea bird although we’re about 30 miles from the ocean, as the crow flies. It was huge. Elegant. Beautiful. It looked so out of place as I passed it, very close. And it never moved. I watched it as I ran by, craning my neck until I almost ran off the trail. And when I turned back a few seconds later it was gone.

Lately I’ve been wanting to live outside. For a year maybe. I want to kill my dinner and cook it on a fire. I don’t want to see a computer or a cell phone. I don’t want to watch television or pump gas or go to restaurants. I don’t want to hear traffic or neighbors. I don’t want to hear anything but the wind. I want to bath in cold mountain springs and sleep in different places every night. I want to walk a hundred miles and then turn around and walk 200 miles back. I want to climb a mountain again. I want to climb a mountain and not have to climb back down for a while. I want to get lost and not try and find the way back. I want to get lost.

- Staley Out

]]> http://www.dailystaley.com/2010/02/17/the-race-chapter/feed/ 2 The Race – Chapter 1 http://www.dailystaley.com/2010/01/10/the-race-chapter-1/ http://www.dailystaley.com/2010/01/10/the-race-chapter-1/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:19:45 +0000 Staley http://www.dailystaley.com/?p=1946 Last night was a surprise birthday party for Dani’s brother. He turned 40. It was at a nice local restaurant in a private room and featured an open bar for select drinks. This is dangerous for me. I knowingly lack a few degree’s of self restraint when faced with certain pleasures of life, like free drinks and cheese. It’s a character flaw and I understand this and make a big effort to do my best and be strong.

But I awoke this morning at around 3:26AM with a screaming bladder and something like a jackhammer in my frontal lobe. I emptied the bladder, quieting that ruckus and upon climbing back into bed all the memories from the previous night came crashing back to me. And I was instantly bathed in a terrifying cold sweat.

During the course of many drinks last night I agreed to run a half marathon with Danielle’s brother and one of his best friends. This best friend is an LAPD cop and his wife competes in and runs triathlons and other crazy things. So needless to say, the guy is actually in good shape for a cop. And then there’s Dani’s brother. He scares me. He’s the classic alpha male with a mental fortitude beyond almost anyone I’ve met. To say he is extremely competitive is a vast understatement.

On one hand, these are a couple of great guys to run a race with. Except I think I stated to many, many people, many times that I would “Destroy”, “Decimate”, “Crush”, etc… etc… etc… them. Eesh. What an a-hole I am. Now, if I don’t do that, I am a REAL A-hole. Like, way more of an A-hole than I have already made myself.

Actually I have been seriously thinking of running a race of some sort. I’ve been wanting to get into better shape and thought maybe a concrete physical goal would provide the external motivation I needed. I guess I sure conjured up some motivation last night. The race is in April. A half marathon. 13 miles. I’m gonna stop writing now and go run. Hangover be dammed…

- Staley out.

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