Running as Meditation

Healthy TravelWith Timothy Olsen Advice from the Pros

By Alexis Costello

Timothy Olsen is an elite athlete and ultra-marathoner with a background in massage and energywork. In 2021 he ran the Pacific Crest Trail which spans from the Mexico/US border in the south to the Canada/US border in the north, covering 4270km of length and ranging from sea level to over 4000 meters of elevation. Tim now holds the record for ‘fastest known time’. I was supporting him with distance sessions through the run and this has been our first opportunity since he completed the trail to talk about it! Watch the full interview on YouTube

A: Now that you are finished this huge undertaking, I’m excited to have a chance to sit down and debrief with you and hear a little about it!

T: Thank you for all of your work during the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)! It was a huge project/journey/vision quest. I started at the border in Mexico and traveled north, through the desert, the Sierra mountains, the Cascade mountains, and all the way to Canada. It’s mountain trail so it’s rocky, it’s technical, and there were certain spots where I would meet my crew to get me food and water and such, but otherwise, you’re kind of out there by yourself. I would sleep out in the woods sometimes when I couldn’t get to my crew who had an RV. You’re really taxing your mind and body; it’s the biggest thing I’ve done in my life!

It was really important to have help from bodyworkers and support from all around, and that included you from Costa Rica - that was superbeneficial!

A: When you say the run is ‘technical’, what do you mean by that?

T: The footing changes a lot. For example, in Costa Rica, it’s jungle; it’s slippery and muddy and you might have to go through a lot of water crossings. In this run, you are going through the whole terrain of the West Coast of the United States. So I go through the dessert where my shoes are filling with sand and I’m getting blisters and jumping over rattlesnakes and stuff like that – animals can be a technical part too because you’re having to watch out for them! By ‘technical’ I just mean that you have to be uber-aware of your footing and your body. In the Sierra mountains I climbed over 15,000 feet; you’re going over rocky terrain and you have to use your hands to go over things… I had seen parts of the PCT before when I lived in Oregon; there was a dirt trail right next to my house that connected to the PCT. I used to joke that from my house I could run to Mexico or Canada depending on what the day would bring! But the trail changes a lot and the technical parts of it can be difficult for people. One thing that was a little surprising was the number of downed trees. I was expecting some, because I was going through burn areas, but I had to go over thousands of downed trees! I was also dealing with an injury, and it was when my shin was at its peak problem that I was going through lots of downed trees. It was super challenging, and I never knew what I was going to face each day. From years of people hiking, the trail might go around the different trees; and these are massive because a 100ft tall tree might fall down, so (on the ground) it could be 4 or 5 ft tall; I might be clambering up and over it, using my whole body, or standing on top of a tree to go over another tree, and you turn it into an obstacle course so these challenges can be fun.

A: That’s so crazy! I’m asking because I heard about the distance and I’m trying to comprehend running 4200km and get my head around that, then realizing that this isn’t paved road; it’s 4200km up and down and around and through and with things on fire around you! And you now have the fastest known time for the PCT?

T: Yes, and that was kind of the point of this. I am a sponsored athlete from Adidas and so to do a project like this I had to run it past them. My profession is ultra-marathoner – a marathon is 26 miles, so I’m doing races that are more than that. This race was more than that. I got into running as a form of meditation and a form of purifying myself. I was not a very healthy person for several years after high school and I was kind of destroying my body and then found running and it grew from there. It became a daily thing to go for a run and be at peace in the mountains. When I went to massage school in 2009 is when my life changed dramatically. I was learning about all of my muscles and then I would go for a run and memorize them. I would use flashcards to learn them and then use myself as a test dummy. I would do a 100miles in a week on rocky terrain going up and down mountains and that’s hard on your body (and I was just getting into it, so that’s really hard on your body!), so the massage and bodywork and energywork was amazing and I met some really cool teachers. I met a holistic naturopath and I changed my whole diet. I started meditating and got into exercising daily. I made that the basis of my routine and it led to lots of cool things and to this accumulation of many years of training –a project of this magnitude… it’s not like a week before I thought, ‘I think I’ll run the Pacific Crest Trail!’.

This was planned for years, and my body has been really prepared for this over many years, also realizing that not every race goes well, not every training goes well. You learn to adapt to the environment and what’s going on and to make the best of the situation. It has been a whole lifetime of learning to connect with myself so I could go connect with nature that deeply and work with it synergistically.

A: Thanks for bringing up your background with massage school and such; do you want to say anything else about your experience with energy medicine or how that helped prepare you?

T: I had a teacher who did Eden Energy Medicine and was good friends with Donna Eden, so one day we went to class and learned a few techniques and did some muscle testing and that was my intro. In massage school I was integrated with a lot of different modalities. This gave me an understanding of meridians and daily I do some qi gong style energywork and then I do the “Three Thumps” which helps me feel more energized. I have become more and more aware of the energy circuits in my body and how everything plays a role in that; my sleep, the nutrients I put into my body and even my thoughts. I can feel it all in a deep way. Like, when you were working on me… I’ve been in your office where you are touching and working on me, but when I was thousands of miles away from you, that was a little different. I would sit and meditate and I would connect with you, thinking of you right next to me and verbally give you permission and I would talk to you in my head. I know that I had been sending you messages about what was going on. When I would sit, I could feel what you were working on, but I would also guide it any way I could. For example, we had been talking about the pH in my mouth because my tongue was swelling and (while I was meditating) that would pop into my mind and it would be a reminder to myself to send intention there and then to give that intention to you. And I don’t know exactly how that all works, but I always felt super-connected to you! There were a couple of times when I was really tired and I didn’t feel the full connection, but then I would feel the session benefits later on. I would feel clearer and brighter. Some of the most meaningful times on the trail were when I got to listen to your messages (of session notes). Because sometimes, I didn’t share a lot of what was going on with you before the session and then you’d leave a message – I still have all the recordings because I love them, and they were always so spot-on. I would feel into those spots and notice any difference. There were a few times where you worked on me and they were my biggest running days. Like I was running about 80-85km a day, but there was one night where you had worked on me and I ran over 100km – I had this extra power. One of the affirmations you mentioned to me was, “infinite energy is available to me right now.” And I would feel that from the earth, going into my roots and my body and I would feel really connected with the earth and with my heart.

“For me, a lot of the time running is prayer.”

A: I’m so glad to hear you say of this because we haven’t really had a chance to talk since you finished the run because of all the things

going on in your life, so I hadn’t heard this before. This was a new experience for me because I have worked with runners before preparing for a big race or helping with recovery afterwards - but this is the first time that I have worked with someone consistently through something like this, so it’s really interesting to hear how that all felt for you and was working for you. I’m very grateful for the chance to get to do that with you!

T: It was super positive for me, especially as I had to keep a lot of things locked up internally. My crew was going through their own things. They were helping me 100%, but I couldn’t talk about certain things with them. I knew from day two that I had to be more of a leader then I wanted to be and step into the role, and it was really challenging at the time. You were the one person that I knew I couldn’t hide anything from! You would always be so spot-on, and I could feel the grace in that. You weren’t showing me pity. There was one time when you were like, “wow, you’re really hurting!” I wanted someone to be strong there for me and it was nice to have you holding space for me while I was holding space for the team and for being on this trail where I couldn’t do enough for myself. This wasn’t a single person endeavor this was a team – when I got to the finish I said, “We did this!” This experience was way beyond me. It felt very guided in a way, like I was just doing what I was supposed to be doing, and then I had everyone there to help me. I had made all these connections with people that were able to support me in this life event and it felt incredible to have such love and support from all over the world. I’m happy to share what happened out there because it was a really special and lifechanging event for me and my family.

A: What role does intention, meditation, and awareness of energy play in your training program and your ability to do these things physically?

T: I consider my mindfulness/meditation as the foundation of the project, my life and my running. I start every morning by going into meditation and setting intention for the day and specifically for my run. I scan through my body and check in on what’s going on. This let’s me come back to myself and set the intention; for example, is this going to be a recovery run or a hard training run? For me, a lot of the time running is prayer. I get to connect with myself, with nature, to communicate and to listen.

It’s a time to shut up and listen to those truths to come through. Running is a way to detoxify and to purge all that doesn’t serve me, to receive all the gifts and support from nature, and to give thanks. That’s why I run. This world is very beautiful, and one of the great parts of meditation is that awareness that allows you to just drop in and just be in awe of this moment. Even on the trail, when I was trying to get to the next mile or the next thing – the meditation was always to try to come back into the moment. To be here now. Especially the last few days when I was so close, and everything hurt! I was trying to let go of the idea of a finish –it’s just going through. It’s not like, ‘I need to get through this and then life will be perfect,’ life is perfect right now.

A: How do you think that this experience has changed you?

T: Everyday I’m changing, and this was a big change – it shook things up. It made me confront a lot of things: insecurities, fears, failures, loss. I hope my experience helps others to follow their passion. When I get triggered by life-things I try to remember to come back to my breath and come back to my practice. The PCT was kind of a deeper thing for the whole family. This past few years, my family has had the loss of a couple miscarriages and it was really challenging to accept that. And to receive the grace and message that was, and not to fight it and feel broken from life and life-circumstances. The PCT was like a healing; to work through frustrations and emotions and whatever arises. To know it’s all unfolding as it’s supposed to be, and sometimes those challenges can feel daunting and hard. I feel like I was given these times in my life as opportunities to keep growing and expanding. I feel like, through this process I was able to change a lot of perspectives in my mind and let go of stories that keep circulating and coming back. And it’s like the trail – I’m not looking for a finish line. This process really opened my heart and opened me up to receive. It’s funny, but I sometimes see people as trees. Going through life, humans can trigger you, it’s hard to live in society sometimes! And we can judge people a lot and we judge ourselves and it can turn into this terrible spiral. When I’m out there in nature, I can let go of these stories and reexperience life for what it is right now. It lets me love the parts of myself that are harder to love and that I want to hide. There are dark moments and shadows that you have to work through. Your mind telling you that you’re

not worthy and not good enough (at least for me, that’s the experience that I have). I’ve had a lot of negative thoughts or feelings going into the past and instead of going into a victim mentality I’ve been able to turn those into opportunities and grow from them. Something I used a mantra on the trail: if I can change myself, the world can change, if I can heal myself, the world can heal, if I can love myself, the world can feel that love. I would come back to that when I was really struggling. Trying to love and accept myself as a whole and then bringing this into my family and then to the world. I have a brand-new daughter and it’s so easy to love her and it can be so hard to love other people! Going back to seeing people as trees; you can see a tree that’s in a shaded section and had to grow crooked and then grew another way, or this tree over here that went through an avalanche and got smooshed down but somehow kept growing, and there are trees with diseases on parts of them… just seeing them all as beautiful and part of this whole. At one point in time, I was having a hard time and was getting mad at the trial and as I was yelling at the trail, I realized I needed to love it; as I love trees, as I love people. And be accepting of it – this trail is not out to get me, this trail did not put a rock here so I would kick it, the hundreds and hundreds of downed trees are not just here to ruin my day! Perspective change, I think was a deep lesson for me. There are other perspectives and people are going through things and we should be more loving and compassionate to each other.

A: That feels really inspiring to me because one of the things I notice in this line of work is that most people seem to feel, on some deep intrinsic level, that they are broken. And the response to that tends to be one of two things: either I compensate like mad to try to make sure that nobody sees how broken I am, or I keep coming back to the places where I’m broken and licking those wounds – continuing to propagate the feeling of this terrible thing that happened to me. So to go, “ok, I’m just going to notice the places where I feel broken and allow them to change and allow them to be loved, to let them be ok. That the tree may not be growing perfectly straight but it’s doing its best…” I think a lot of people need to hear that.

T: It was a beautiful time for us to heal as a family. We went through the miscarriages which you got to connect with my wife with and help with – it has been really hard but, going on this journey together… I got to just sob on the trail for my babies and wish I was running with them like I got to run with my boys. I can hold that sadness of loss, but also feel the joy. I’ve had moments where it felt like everything was against me and life is terrible, but I’m learning more and more that my words are magic. Trying to have intention behind the thoughts and the language that comes out because I don’t need to tell myself crappy stories about how I’m broken every day. I want to say, “Tim, I believe you can run the Pacific Crest Trail, abracadabra, bam!” I had to let go of what I wanted this experience to be and surrender to what it was. I’m a human, so I keep messing up, but instead of telling myself how awful I am I’m trying to stay positive and stay grounded and open to what’s coming next.

A: That’s why the affirmations are so cool right? When one comes up in a session for a client or for myself and it’s right; there is a feeling that comes along with it of

rightness. It’s very empowering, and I can feel everything kind of aligning around that. What’s next for you?

T: As of right now we have a month-old baby, so my plan is to spend a lot of time with her and helping her mama work through being a new mama again! We have two boys, and we are schooling them. And then getting my body back, trying to integrate what just happened. I just did the hugest thing in my life – I don’t even know what it did to my body, the week after was really challenging, I have never had my body hurt and spasm so much! The plan is to come back to Costa Rica as soon as possible. I want to soak this all in and keep working on what arrived through the trip. I’m in the midst of writing a book sharing my experience on the PCT and with that, sharing different aspects of my life. I’m in this spot between racing and doing projects that light up my soul in a different way. We put on these Run Mindful retreats, and with Covid it has been really hard to put those on. Hopefully we will have one in Costa Rica for the first time this winter, that’s something I want to keep growing with my wife. What I really enjoy about this world of social media (there’s a lot of issues with it, but there can be good to): you can spread a message, and that’s what I try to do, and I think it’s really beautiful how we can connect with people all over the world and share our stories.

The Energy Thumps technique that Tim mentioned— technique from Donna Eden.

To listen to others and help each other out. When I was out running it meant the world to me to have people supporting me. We are all connected in a very visceral deep way.

A: I loved seeing the posts of you on the trail, especially the ones where the boys were out running with you!

T: Some of my favourite times on the trail were when I got to spend time with my family. By choosing to run the trail supported, I got to see my family and I got to run with them; my boys and Krista would hike with me almost every day – it was always the highlight of my day, just to do a mile together.

A: Can we just acknowledge that while Krista was doing that, she was like, seven months pregnant?!

T: Yes, it was insane – she was a complete rockstar! At one point we were in the middle of nowhere, no cell service, and there was a massage therapist who worked on me a few days and he was there and worked on Krista one day. They were outside and she was on the table and an OB/GYN showed up out of nowhere to see if she was in labour and needed help! And it was a demonstration that the universe was looking out for us, we could be in the middle of nowhere and it would be ok. There’s going to be a documentary on it, so it will be funny to look back on this. We can do a showing of it in Costa Rica! Thank you for your help out there; I don’t think I could have done it without you, and I wouldn’t have wanted to!

For more info about Tim, visit:

www.timothyallenolsen.com www.adventuremindful.com