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One of a few photos shot for today, 10/27/09, while waiting for a writer/editor at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.

With a name like "Rollo," you likely want to be tough or have something worth saying. I don't know if Rollo May ever got his ass kicked, but he could sure get folks to pondering with the wisdom he could spit.

"Freedom is a man's capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves." --Rollo May

I first came across Rollo by way of an artist friend 10-or-so years ago. He liked to quote R.M. by way of a question and proceeded to scrawl it onto an abstract painting he gave me. The quostion (quote/question) goes like this: "What if imagination and art are not frosting at all, but the fountainhead of human experience?"

That question sticks with me. It comes from May's book, "The Courage to Create," which now sits on my bookshelf with a fair amount of underlinings, dog-eared pages, and chicken-scratch in the margins.

I generally relegate my own writing to the margins of the day. I get to it before the day officially starts or at the end of it, when the kids are sleeping. The inherent problem is that there isn't always time in those margins as the page itself seeps off into the sides. The same thing can happen with running, yoga, longboarding, etc., but I have found a way to make time, push the margins, to give those activities permission to happen.

Enter the 30-day challenge. My aim is to write something worthwhile--essay, aphorism, blog post, poem, fragment, etc.--and to take at least one "cool" photograph for each of the next 30 days. Cutting myself some slack, I didn't say the writing or photos have to be good, just that the practice gets instilled and I make a commitment to myself, the time, and the attempt. The writing and the photographs don't have to relate to each other, though they might. I'll be posting photos on Facebook. And I'll see if I can't share some of the writing and/or photos here.

That's my challenge. We'll see where it leads. What challenges or gauntlets have you thrown down for yourselves?

Backyard Adventures

The trail along with the White Clay Creek outside Newark, DE. Trails are always my preferred running terrain, but are they the end all? Photo by Joel Shilliday.

Last weekend we were running trails in Delaware, where I pounded my legs on hills and got in two light recovery runs this past week, each of about 40 minutes. Yesterday would have been the perfect day for a light 10-miler out at Tuckahoe or a run to St. Michaels, and we were debating which option to choose. And then I posted the Trans Tred Avon Challenge on the Rise Up Runners blog.

The goal was to do something cool for a long run, and get people thinking about when we could fit it in during the next month. Then a funny thing happened: we left the Diving Dog parking lot at 7:30 a.m., with 7 runners, to take the challenge, 48 hours after it was posted. For the full story on that run, check the RUR blog for photos, thoughts, etc.

What I thought I'd use as a point of departure here comes from a comment that Mike Keene (congratulations to the Wood Frog, by the way, for rocking his first triathlon! Read his report on his blog) made on Friday. To wit, trail running represents the kind of challenges, being in nature, pushing yourself over difficult terrain, that he wants out of his running and racing, and he would be just as happy not to run on roads at all.

Of course, I agree with him. However, I live in Easton, and the only "trail" we've got in town is actually paved. I run three times per week. On any given week, at least two out of those three are on roads. And unless we move to a house with trails in reasonably running proximity from the front door, that will remain the case.

So I'm a road runner too. What to do? The Trans Tred Avon Challenge, and other runs like it are part of my own answer. Make the runs different. Add an adventure factor. Create and tackle challenges with running friends. Yesterday's 20-21-mile run was one of the most enjoyable long distance runs I've ever done--based on how my legs felt, how nutrition went (no leg cramps, stomach issues, etc.), the perfect weather, and the fantastic company.

Our Rise Up Runs present another adventure avenue: running in the dark, earlier than most people get up. I'm not sure what the next "challenge" to be issued will be. I do know that there will be many more Trans Tred Avon runs, with ferry crossings, from various starting points--loops, point-to-points, and pool parties afterward.

The TTAC is a run I had been thinking about for a while. And all it took was 48 hours for a bunch of game-faced runners to step up and start it. What's the next Eastern Shore challenge out there? We know one is Joel Shilliday's Tuckahoe Creek Scramble. What else? Point-to-point from Easton to Tilghman? Kayak crossing of the Tred Avon, mid-run? There are so many backyard adventures, road or trail, I can't wait to see what the next run holds.