For a few years during my time at the Colorado College I wrote a column for the school newspaper called Conversations, featuring interviews with workers on campus. We would sit down and discuss various aspects of their lives, their day to day routines and interests and lives outside of work. I’d let the questions and topics just sort of freestyle along, the whole thing evolving naturally just like what it truly was, a simple, easy conversation. I sought out some of the little-known, unique details that made them who they were. Even the mundane, seemingly ordinary aspects of a person’s life can be rich and fascinating when viewed, or read about, from the outside. Connecting with the lives of others can accomplish many things: it can make us feel a part of the larger whole of humanity, it can inspire and inform us, it can be a temporary escape into another world, another life. And, of course, it breeds an empathy and compassion for others. That’s always a good thing.
After seeing for myself what an amazing place Portland is and experiencing the wonderful community of trail runners and generally good people I thought it would be fun to do something similar to Conversations on a local level. I know I’ve been inspired and impressed by countless folks in Portland in the last 2 years and so I thought I’d be worth interviewing some of these great characters and amazing athletes and sharing their stories with you. After all, it’s the mosaic of different people around us that make up the so much of our lives. Our friendships and relationships on all levels to the people around us are primarily what colors our day to day experiences. It’s crazy to think you could see somebody everyday, pass by them on the street, see them at the cafe or on the bus, and just never has any idea of the treasure trove of stories they have to tell, the myriad experiences they’ve had in their lives. They could had gone anywhere and done anything! And we’ll never know unless we talk to them… or have someone to interview them! This is Members of the Tribe, Profile #2 and we’re talking with Stephen Petretto (this is Part II of III, read Part I here)
(Continued from last week…)
W: How much of it was wanting to get into nature? Was there an element of wanting to specifically do that?
S: It didn’t start that way. It didn’t matter if I was running on the road or running in the hills or in the country or whatever. That never really mattered, I just liked running, as a release and as a balance to working in financial services and having a job where I travel and feel some of those stresses…that was a balance…running was what I looked forward to getting up early for in the morning. I would go to bed in my running clothes to get up at 5 and go running because I was just jacked up about it. I’d set everything out the night before–even if I wasn’t in a race, just a Tuesday. After doing Pikes [Peak marathon] and then looking at the mountain the whole drive back to the airport and thinking about climbing up that I later did my first official trail race–the Forest Park 50k 2011, that was the first I had ever done… I had never run more than about 10 miles on Wildwood ever–and I got lost in Forest Park at one of the easiest parts of the course, off of Saltzman Rd for like 6 miles. I went to the bottom…I was like “Are you kidding me? I got lost?” I thought about just packing it in, just going down Leif Erickson and being done, ’cause I knew that way home. Then I finally found the way back and I said “You know I don’t really care about time anymore,” and so I ended up running about 37 miles. I was like “Wow, I went farther than 50k!…this is amazing!” Once I lost track of how many miles I’d gone…you were just running and you we’re just trying to stay fueled. More miles is more fun… And I was excited to run the next day even though I was sore.
W: Do you have an interest in the mental aspects of ultra-running? How much of it is a mental challenge for you?
S: It’s necessary to have a certain physical base but I like the uncertainty when you toe the start line whether or not you are either going to accomplish your goals of running the whole time if it’s a difficult race in terms of terrain or you want to run it really hard. There’s uncertainty about how the day will go. I like the uncertainty of what you will experience when it gets tough. For me it’s not a question of if it will get bad, it’s a question of when. There’s always that uncertainty going into mile 40 or 50 or 60…and all of a sudden you’re like “Oh here it comes…” Your stomach is about to turn…
W: What about that is appealing to you?
S: I like that the body responds to that difficulty… yet your mind is going to tell you that your body is not going to respond favorably over time as you take in more food and more drink and mentally you’re saying “It doesn’t matter how much I take in or how slow I go or how much I hike or even if I stop, I’m not going to be able to go anymore.” And then you start going again and things turn [for the better]…I enjoy that part of it, pushing yourself through that hurdle. With the marathon everyone talks about you “bonk” or you get to a point where you break through the wall but I feel like with the 100 mile distance you experience that several times in different aspectS: sometimes it’s nutrition, sometimes it’s just fatigue, other times it’s sleepiness–like you just get tired, different than the fatigue of being worn down–and then sometimes your knee is really hurting but then that might turn too. I like running through the night too, pushing through. I love the morning because it’s like starting fresh. It may be 20 to 30 hours but you feel like you have several days of experiences because you have hours upon hours with people that you meet out there and I love that part of it. I love being with people when they go through low points and when I go through low points and being there for each other whether it’s a pacer or another runner that you join. That’s what’s most appealing about long-distance. Point to point races are by far my favorite…starting in one place, on one side of a mountain and to finish on an entirely other side and to do so with, obviously, tons of support from race people and potentially crew and pacers. But, either way, you still need to move one leg in front of the other from aid station to aid station…
W: So it’s an empowering experience for you?
S: Yeah…it’s like an accomplishment…
W: Can you apply these lessons to the rest of your life? Like challenges you face at the office…are they easier to deal with because you feel like you can deal with something so much greater?
S: I don’t know if I use the running for anything else. It’s something that I love doing and so if I get to do the things that I love doing then it’s going to make me better at other things. I think it’s a balance for me…so if I can do the thing that I love it’s going to make me healthier and happier and if I get to participate with people in that thing and get to do something that makes me feel incredibly joyful and that I’m passionate about then it provides a balance to work. While I like my job I don’t go into it with the same level of passion that I would go into running. I love my wife and I go into that with a lot of passion and so when I can blend those things together–you know, time with my wife and running–that’s the greatest thing. And then there’s the friendship aspect of all the running. I feel like it makes me more appreciative when I’m able to do these things because…I go to work and I’m looking around thinking “just this weekend I’m about to go on this great journey,” and I’m typing away on the computer and it’s almost like this feeling of when you’re a kid and you’re looking forward to seeing family at the holidays or waking up on Christmas morning…that’s literally what it’s like every morning on race day. I started this thing with my wife 2 1/2 years ago where when we’d see each other, any time it was a race day we’d just say “Happy Race Day!” like Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas, because that’s what I want to do on my birthday. I always wish there was a race on my birthday because that’d be the best thing. That’s what we’d always say, we’d get up at 4 in the morning and you’d just say “Happy Race Day!” first thing.
W: I love it, that’s awesome.
S: If my work can provide me enjoyment and an avenue to participate in this stuff–because there’s a financial expense to it–and it has the flexibility so I can make the time commitment to my family and to the running, then it’s a great job. But it’s so important that I get to be out there and experience what the body can do. I just appreciate time–whether it’s hiking or running–I just appreciate time out there.
W: That’s excellent. So obviously you’re lucky to have a partner that supports you…that’s good.
S: Yeah, she’s really supportive. She ran a few miles with me in my first 50 miler. My first 100 she ran some of it with me. She ran some of San Diego 100 with me. She’s crewed for me and/or paced me in all of the 100s I’ve done…and all the 50s…and 100ks. She’s only missed probably 3 or 4 races ever that I’ve ever done, like she’s been to all of them. Sometimes she’s just there at the finish to pick me up, like at Hagg Lake or something like that but other times she been the absolute reason that I’ve been able to get through it. My favorite thing by far in the 100 mile distance is being able to cross the finish line or run the last “x” number of miles with my wife. That’s by far the best experience because it’s only because of her understanding of when I’m gone for a long Saturday or her enjoyment in a successful day or her support in an injury period that I’m able to do it. If she wasn’t supportive or wouldn’t affirm this passion then I wouldn’t be able to put as much energy and time because it’s time away from her. And if those two things conflicted, it’d be difficult for me to be away from her because I’d be kind of resenting the fact that… but she sees how much I love it and she knows that sometimes she’s got to kick me out of the house, she knows I need to go like “You’re kinda cranky, you need to go for a run…that’s what it is.”
W: Excellent. Let’s see… If you could be a different animal than you are now, what would you be and why?
S: Oh man…I used to always say that I wanted to be a Koala bear…
W: (Laughs)
S: …Because, from what I understand–I’m gonna source this from Wikipedia probably–they sleep like 23 hours a day and they eat the hour a day they’re awake and to me that just sounded pretty awesome. And they’re always climbing and clinging to trees and it just seemed very relaxed. I have a strong affinity for sloths, um…
W: For sloths?!?
S: For sloths. ‘Cause they move super slow and like…they move like I expect I would when everything in my life was going just…was right in line; there wasn’t any chores to do, there wasn’t any “to-do” lists, there wasn’t anything I had to work on, I was all caught up at work, I was worried and wasn’t thinking about money, I wasn’t thinking about where we were gonna travel, or vacations, or work, or anything. They just chill…it’s like no worries. Everything they do is super mellow and slow and intentional.
W: I like that.
S: So I think probably a sloth…
W: That’s very ironic though seeing as how much you run.
S: Yeah, that’s true. (laughing) Although the other animal that I always used to joke when I would think about running fast is being very gazelle-like…So sometimes they give you opportunity to put on your bib what your name is and sometimes I would just put “Gazelle.” It’s super anti, ’cause I run like a 4 hour marathon so it wasn’t like I was very gazelle like but I always thought that was funny.
W: Mentally gazelle-like…
S: Yeah..to be gazelle-like. So with respect to running: gazelle-like. With respect to how I’m feeling about my home life and my work life: very sloth-like, very slow moving and relaxed.
W: Do you listen to music when you run?
S: Ahh, 50/50…if I’m doing a really intense run. I little to a lot of pod casts. When I run there’s different pastors and sermons that I like to listen to…I listen to Mark Driscoll a lot when I run.
W: Who’s that?
S:…
Willie McBride is a native of Chicago, IL but has been living in and exploring the American West since 2000. He attended the Colorado College, majoring in English with a focus on Creative Writing, solidifying his love of writing and his need for mountains. An avid hiker, climber, and trail/ultramarathon runner he now resides in NW Portland, close by the trails of Forest Park. He started a personal/group training and coaching business called Animal Athletics (AnimalAthleticsPDX.com) with fellow ultra runner Yassine Diboun in spring of 2012 and the two provide top-notch services to aspiring outdoor athletes of all abilities.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
