Majestic Mount Cook

Our bodies and minds harness tremendous power individually, when working collectively amazing feats have been achieved by human beings. Sometimes the two super powers stand at odds. June 21, 2012 was one of those mornings for me. We were lodged at the base of the Tasman Glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand looking at a snow covered valley at the foot of Mount Cook. I had been up for hours trying to convince myself to go out into the cold for a run. By sunrise, the morning remained frigid. It's no secret I do not like the cold, Sam I am. My mind advised my body against running in the snow with subzero temperatures.

After hours of internal conversation, I geared up and trekked out onto the icy roads. Hemmed in by mountains, I lit out into one of the most beautiful and peaceful environments I have ever had the pleasure to experience. My own breathing seemed like noise pollution. Nature built an amphitheater from the looming white mountains. I intruded on the symphony of silence. Barron of everything except for natural wonder, the frozen basin swallowed sound. 

Millions of years in formation this landscape continues to change, to create itself anew. I had long forgotten my mental anguish over the cold which delayed the morning run. Make no mistake, my body was keenly aware of the bitter cold. I pressed longer wanting to see more, wanting to be out among the grandeur just a little while longer. At 40 minutes I turned around and had already marked this as a personal favorite run ever.

The return to the lodge I ran against the wind and I began to feel a slight shortness of breath due to altitude. This took nothing from the run as by now my mind and body worked in sync to make the best of short time in such a remarkable place. 

If your mind will let it your body will go. Run.

Tom