As I was putting together some final thoughts on Arrowhead, a couple things caught my attention. A PBS show featuring singer/songwriter John Denver and a new adventure for a British man by the name of Ben Saunders. (See his blog under my favorite links)
It was at the end of a long, tiring day as I was flipping through the channels passing time before I went to sleep. I came across John Denver singing "Rocky Mountain High". Just him and his guitar. I never really cared much for his music as I was a teenager when he was most popular and he just couldn't hold a candle to Meatloaf and Boston. What struck me was his passion as he sang the song I thought was probably a euphemism for smoking pot. Since I have been drug and alcohol free for the past 27 years, I never really paid attention to the song probably because of my bias. As his passion pulled me in to watch him sing, the lyrics started to jump out at me and were striking a familiar cord. Wow. He gets it. He gets what I get. I get what he gets and he wrote a song about it. I downloaded the song and put it on my iPod for my next run. Though the song is about his personal experience, many of the lines will resonate with people who like to be outside enjoying Gods great creation. I encourage you to give it a listen.
A co-worker of mine, knowing my affection for endurance events, told me about a guy who is making a solo trek to the North Pole. I know people have traveled there on foot, ski and dog sled but didn't know if it had been done solo as I know it takes a while. A while being about 40 days or so. That's a long time by yourself and a lot of gear to carry. Well, it has been done and Ben Saunders is out to do it again in record time.
Though it was his adventure that caught my attention, it again was his passion that pulled me in. When I listened to him explain how he rounded the corners of his packages of food to take a little weight off and how he was totally consumed with his preparation, I could see myself and my preparation for Arrowhead. Then, once the event starts, everything changes and as he put it, "There's no place on earth I'd rather be." He gets it and I get what he gets. It's his Rocky Mountain High.
What's yours?
