The FKT project, here known as "The Tukson 50" has been a life-time in the making. My earliest memories include drawing maps of our local ski mountain pixel by pixel. I grew up hiking in Montana's US Forest Service and Wilderness lands, which required a deep knowledge and skill in reading topography maps in order to find my dad's favorite fishing spots. My interest and love of maps has always been there, my skill in reading and imagining them, my super-power. I dream in "topo". Cat Mountain Fast forward to today, and Strava has put that love of maps and topography on crack. That heat map, is the best thing ever created! I have got dozens of variations of the Tucson 50, remembered in a half dozen published maps on Strava. These days I'm using maps to motivate and explore. As some elite racers will recite, in reference to their Why, "I race to train." In other words, for many it's about the running, the views, and less about finishing comp...
I am terrified of setting this goal. it feels not unlike updating my glasses or getting back on the horse with dental work. really anything that gets to my sense of value as a person becomes difficult. It feels like sometimes it can take a whole year to set one appointment. I spend my whole career trying to unsuccessfully motivating others to move forward on their life goals and dreams. I help them identify what their value system is and align that with their actions. Now I find myself twenty, thirty, fourth pounds overweight. I still run often for mood regulation and personal enjoyment but I find myself stuck in this rut with nothing to dream about, no race to strive for which is typically what I have on the books to motivate me in other things. It all makes sense after all - I'm a father of a two, almost 3-year-old and a 7-year-old and we've moved a couple times in the last few years. the last move was tough and I medicated it with bags of candy in the evening after the ki...