By HPRS Staff Columnist Jacob Stevens

“He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.”
-Friedrich Neitszche

As the stars turn to multicolored comets which move in a manner resembling a Windows 98 screen saver, I look up and wonder how the old 56 Ford wound up ON TOP of the VW bug…especially out here on this mountain in the middle of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. The countryfolk in overalls, legs dangling off every downed tree, toss lures out on to the trail which I expertly avoid, along with all the snakes, utilizing agility and quickness; and so goes the night…

3 Weeks Later…

Here I sit, uninspired, staring upon the vastness that encompasses a blank page; how does one put into words a picture that is so fluid, so translucent, so seamless that the stories themselves visually weave in and out of each other with the ease of the colors interacting on a tie-dye t-shirt? Hence, the dilemma…

What I’m feeling now and am slowly coming out of is not something new or unique to me.  Post-race blues, post-race depression or post-race letdown is a very real condition and guess what? It happens to not only all sorts of athletes, professional or otherwise, but to anyone who reaches a significant or monumental destination. Boxing and MMA describe the “post-fight blues”, amateur athletes at the highest of levels refer to “Post-Olympic Depression”, even academics refer to it as “post-achievement depression”. Taking a step back and looking at things from a bird’s eye view provides comfort in the fact that this is temporary but does little to soothe the soul.

During times like this, what I have found to be most useful is to simply maintain a consistent routine, even if it has to be created from seemingly minuscule tasks.  While recovering we can commit to yoga, breath work, stretching, journaling, or even meal prepping.  These small, self-imposed commitments will go a long way in providing structure, consistency, purpose, and even happiness.  In my experiences since finishing the Sangre de Cristo 200 what I have learned is that the destination truly only exists for a single purpose: to be there.  Personally, what I am striving for is not near as important than the act of striving itself…the journey truly is why I continue to push myself and run these distances.

The bigger, crazier, and more audacious the destination, the longer, more involved, and more time consuming the journey becomes.  This process takes up so much time and encompasses so much of my life that it becomes my life.  It becomes woven into the fabric of my being which culminates in the ultimate destination.  The destination is awarded with a belt buckle, medal, or some other form of physical representation to collect dust on the mantle but the journey…the journey becomes a part of you.

So when the destination is reached, thus appears a void as endless as the numerical phenomenon that is represented mathematically by the symbol pi (п).  This must be filled which can sometimes be a lot harder than one may think, hence why it is so important to create tasks that must be done each day, preferably at the same time each day.  One of the easiest tasks for me personally is to commit to preparing the coffee each evening and writing a quick entry into my journal each night.  This small, consistent act gives me purpose and opens the doorway for creative exploration in regard to which direction I want my life to head from this moment on. Somewhere during those early long-distance experiences something inside of me changed and these long-distance adventures have become part of who I am, therefore; I’ll inevitably lean towards coming up with and planning my next adventure, but for you it could be absolutely anything; the only requirement is passion and love.

These feelings do not necessarily only occur specifically after a big accomplishment, a milestone, or a destination is reached but can occur at any point in time induced by a variety of factors.  The key here is awareness.  Awareness will bring recognition and validation to your feelings and make it much easier to transition into a healthier state of being. Take stock of your surroundings, feelings, and headspace; then make necessary adjustments, preferably in small increments. Follow this equation:

Small Incremental Improvements + Time = RADICAL CHANGE AND SUCCESS

So no matter what “stage of the game” you are in just remember that we are most balanced, thus making it easier to live purposefully and happily, when we are actively engaged in the journey; because whether we like it or not and whether we want to be on it or not…we are all on a journey. 

What will you do with yours?