I had an amazing morning today. Climbed for about an hour, then trail-ran up to the very top of Minnehaha/Beacon Hill, then back down, more rocks, down-climbing, more trails, bit more climbing, trails again, river rocks, got hot—jumped in the river and swam, more river rock running, then end.

I’m trying to find the right term to describe what I’m doing lately. The closest I can come up with is “climb-running.” I’m sure it is not that novel, but it feels like it to me. It is basically a combination of fairly intense bouldering (hands-and-feet-only rock climbing) with trail-running, and generally scrambling over rocks and rocky terrain. It is awesome. I carry a chalk bag, am effectively barefoot (wearing 4 millimeter-thick Vibram FiveFingers shoes), and I move as fast as I can handle it and go until I feel too tired to keep going safely (or I have to be somewhere). My main objective is the following: to move as if I had no other way to get from point A to point B. As if I were a primal man, simply finding a fast and efficient way to get up that rock or across that crevasse, or down that rocky trail. That is, I’m not looking for the most exactingly technical climbing routes or the most grueling trail-running trails. I’m just trying to move well. To consistently move more like a “creature” and less like a modern man. I’m mainly looking for a feeling of whole body/mind engagement and a deep connection to the terrain. And I’m finding it. It is magical.