Dec 18: thoughts on running and the soul

Last week I only ran four times, was supposed to run 5 (of course I was, that's the plan every week) but helping out a friend one day and an evening of wings, beer, and strippers cut me down a bit.

I still managed to get in just under 12 hours of 'running' 2,608 metres elev gain. On saturday I joined a friend for a run in Kal Park in Vernon. There was lots of snow, thick stuff, my ice grips kept falling off so it was tough. About three hours into the run I felt a little rough, but it passed. We made it to the High Rim trail head, which is nice because  running that trail end to end is a dream run for next year to fit in. We finished our run at about 48 km, so just because we did a couple km of roads as well to hit 50 on the day. We ended up running 50 km in super tough conditions in just under 6 hours. This was a tougher run than the 54 km ultra I did in September, which I ran injured. I had some rough moments in the middle, but it's super good to feel like I"m finally getting to feeling recovered from my Fat Dog issues. Only took four months to get there, feels good to feel like I"m getting there, and only serves to make me want to push harder to finish a 100 mile race.

I was also thinking, I might stop racing with a watch/gps or anything like that. I'm fully confident that I will never be in trouble with finishing times as long as I continue to train consistently. If the goal of the race is to run by the feel of my heart and to run so hard I need to dig into my soul to go as hard as I feel I'm capable, I don't feel those are metrics that a watch can help me with.... and yet I shall continue to train with a gps and record my distance/elev gain/heart rate/time.

Plato discusses in "the republic' his idea of a tripartite soul. He states that the three parts are the appetitive, rational, and spirited.

Appetitive: "The appetitive aspect of soul is the one that is responsible for the base desires within people. It is responsible for the simple cravings needed to stay alive, such as thirst and hunger, and also for unnecessary cravings such as sexual excess or the desire to over-consume at meal time. The desires for necessary things (such as food and drink) should be restricted by the other parts of the soul, while unlawful desires should be restricted completely by the other aspects of soul"

Rational: "he rational soul (mind or intellect) is the thinking portion within each of us (Logiston, from Logos), which discerns what is real and not merely apparent, judges what is true and what is false, and wisely makes the rational decisions in accordance with which human life is most properly lived."

Spirited: "The spirited, or thumetic, soul (thymos) is the source of the desires that love honor and victory. In the just soul, spirit acts as the enforcer of the rational soul, ensuring that the dictates of reason are followed. Emotions such as anger and indignation are the result of the frustration of the spirit."

Would a runner be better served in their 100 miler training program if the program also asks them to read material such that they learn about their soul? At some point during your 100 mile run you will surely be faced with soul searching moments; would reading about ideas of the soul help you be ready for this?