Abundance, joy and the mullet protocol

"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into."- author Wayne Dyer
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TRAILCON AND WESTERN STATES WRAPPED
Last week I attended Trail Con and the Western States 100-mile endurance run. My key takeaway from both is ABUNDANCE. From Trail Con I saw an abundance of caution away from real talk of pushing the sport towards more sustainability, diversity and inclusivity. I saw an abundance of marketing and brand activations and the commerce of trail running. I saw a lot of hat giveaways and less thought to getting more people into the hats. But there is the other side.

At Western States, I saw abundance as well, but mostly in the in the best way. This is a race with more spectators in the stands for the final hour of finishers than for the first-place finishers and people were OUT to cheer on perfect strangers finishing up what for most is an impossible task of 100 miles through the mountains and heat. I also saw numerous past Western States champions out on the course as pacers and volunteers. Seven-time champion Scott Jurek volunteers through the night at mile 90. Not many marathon champions out there handing cups to the back of the pack runners in Boston.  

I met people who drove from Oregon on a family vacation just to spectate the race, no connections to any runner in particular, just fans of the sport. And I saw so much giving of time, heart and spirit from one runner to another. There is just so much joy, hard work and can-do attitude it is hard to come home and not feel the abundance in my own sport bubble. If you want to experience the magic of a trail race and are not ready to sign up, you can volunteer, just ask me how! You won't be sorry. 

MULLET PROTOCOL
During a panel discussion at Trail Con, a race director in gravel racing said that as a race organization, they utilize the "mullet protocol" which got me listening. She described it as a way to celebrate the front and the back of the pack with intention. They include a mullet podium for those nominated by fellow riders for exemplifying the spirit of the sport. LOVE! If you are looking for local race directors who share this same spirit, check out this post from Go Beyond Racing and the organization they started Trail Mix Fund. 

BREAKING 4
Last week Nike held a moonshot when they went all in on Faith Kipyegon in an attempt for a woman to break the 4-minute mile barrier. Her PR was 4:07 which meant taking off almost 2 seconds per lap. You can watch it here, worth five minutes to see sports going all in and investing in a woman.  Then, you can get critical and read an interesting analysis of the attempt. 

READING ROUNDUP

• Why fasting doesn't work for active women. By Stacy Sims. 
• Langkawi International Ultra Run won outright by Wong Mei-yan. 
• Turn off the Excuse Machine. "Those excuses come out sounding quite a lot like complaints."

STRENGTH NEEDS
This fake thing cracked me up. "No pain, no popcorn." Or, another idea for motivating your strength training, JOIN ME! See you on Wednesday nights for Strength Training for Runners, live to your screen. Free always.