Tara Warren

When you finish the Bear 10 times, you earn a pretty sweet award. Bryce earned his years ago, and little by little, I keep getting closer.

After UTMB, I knew I wanted to be gentle with myself at the Bear. I didn’t need anything from this race other than a weekend running through brilliant fall colors, listening to really good music and genuinely enjoying being out there.

As the race unfolded, my fitness caught me off guard. I was well ahead of previous years’ splits, and of course that was exciting. But I kept reminding myself not to let that change what I’d come looking for.
Joy.

Earlier this year, Rachel Entrekin shared something that has stayed with me through every difficult race situation I’ve put myself into this season:

She wanted to like who she was when things got tough.

I’ve thought deeply about that. It’s easy to like who you are when everything is clicking. It’s different when you’re exhausted, hurting, getting passed, or the race you imagined isn’t the race you’re getting.

The last time I ran the Bear, I was finishing the Rocky Mountain Slam. I was spent, on autopilot and carrying so much pressure, mostly my own, to make it happen. I finished, but afterward I was disappointed by how little I’d connected with the experience. It felt more like checking a box than being part of something I love.

I didn’t want that this time. I wanted to like who I was out there. And for me, I’ve learned that means looking for the little sparks, not waiting for it to find me. A ridiculous thing that makes me laugh when I’m tired. A song at exactly the right moment. The colors in the trees. The moon through the clouds. People I love popping up along the way. Looking around when my head wants to go down. Finding levity when everything feels heavy.

Those little sparks matter. Because if I can’t find that bright place when things get hard, what’s even the point?

And I found it at the Bear this year. Over and over again.

Yes, I’m proud of how well the race went on paper. But what I carried into Garden City means so much more.
I found the joy I went looking for.
And I liked who I was out there.

8 down…

#raceday #happyrunner #runner #trailrunning #joy