Alexander Supertramp

I saw the movie Into The Wild this past weekend and thought it was a great story. I started reading the book a couple of years ago but got sidetracked and never finished it. Alexander Supertramp is the name moniker adopted by Chris McCandless during his journey across America and to the Alaskan wilderness. The story certainly has adventure at its heart but it also unmasks many of the pitfalls in our society today including the obsession of most folks with materialism, status and bank account balances. One of the best lines in the movie is when Alex notes how amazed he is at just how bad people generally treat each other every day. Think about it. How often do you get angry over such minuscule details such as someone driving too slow, talking too loud or looking too different? I now I do far too often.

My rant does have some running content. As I watched the movie I was reminded of several parallels with ultra running and trail running in particular. See, I admittedly used to be obsessed with materialism and even owned a Rolex at one point (I know, ludicrous). Discovering trail running (through ultras) in 2006 introduced me to a purer form of myself. Over the last two years, I have developed much more appreciation for the "simpler" things in life such as my family and frolics through the woods testing my endurance. Tony Krupicka is often noted for his "minimalist" approach to life and how running through the woods exposes his own "primal existence". I can certainly identify with that, at least on some level.

Anyway, my training is going very well as I have about two more solid weeks before tapering for Massanutten. I feel very good both physically and mentally and am starting to get details such as crew and pacers all worked out. A couple of epic training runs await including a beast of a day next week with Mason. Details/report to follow afterwards. Definitely check out Into The Wild either in print or on the screen and see if you can unleash your own Alexander Supertramp from within.