Bonus Miles - How YOU Doin'?
How about we start off with a little introduction and a get to know you?Me: Hello my name is Aric Manning and I love trail running.You: Hello Aric.My Likes: Cheese curds, IPA’s, VW Vans, Chicago Cubs, Capt. America, Rocky Movies, soccer, coffee, chicken wings, rain, NY style pizza, kale, Disneyland and mountainsMy Dislikes: Heat (anything above 80 degrees), sand, people who take the stickers off a rubik’s cube and put them back on to make you think they solved it, Strava cheaters, politics, beets, hashtags, cars that go slow in the left lane, how sensitive people have become and onionsFor the record I am not a writer. I would classify myself as a wannabe writer but so much has changed since I went to school to be a learner. My punctuation will most likely be wrong at times (maybe even a lot) so I will make my one and only apology now-I am sorry.I was good in school and a pretty decent writer according to the red ink smiley faces I received on my homework but things have changed. I think it started with all the years of taking soccer balls to the head. We had no concussion protocols or common sense. So bonus miles will never be perfect but they rarely are.Okay-now that we got that out of the way-What are “Bonus miles”? Well, if you are out on a run and maybe have a little more time than you planned or you just feel better than you thought-you can squeeze in a few “bonus miles”. If you find a new trail and decide to see what is just around the next bend or over the next hill/peak/summit-those are “bonus miles”. Uh-oh, you took a wrong turn on the course- “bonus miles”. Or how about this- you are running a 50 mile race and at mile 49 find out you have 3 more miles to go-well sorry those are some “bonus miles” as well. Either way you slice it “bonus miles” are just a little something extra….good or bad.This TrailManners column is more about perspective-my perspective. It is not written to cause emotional stirring debates. It will not be political or spiritual. It will be more focused on what we all do on the trail: go down that rabbit hole in our thoughts.I also hope to hear some of your thoughts on topics as well as your perspectives. The trail community is a family to me so hearing what you have to say will be welcomed-long as it has nothing with grading my punctuation and grammar.
