"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday." —A.A. Milne
Reasons to slow down this summer.
There’s a subtle but persistent pressure that comes with a Montana summer. You feel it in the stacked weekends, the early alarms, the long drives, and in the sense that you should be out there, doing more.
I spent my last few summers training for trail races. From the minute I paid my entry fees, my days revolved around training—going for runs, thinking about runs, arranging plans around runs. When I wasn’t running, I felt like I should be.
To be fair, this gave me an active and beautiful summer. I covered a lot of ground and crossed the line on race days feeling proud, accomplished, and ready to sign up all over again. All summer, though, I caught myself moving through these landscapes, places I loved, nearly as fast as I could. Head down, watching my footing, mind drifting between being the present and to-do lists.
By the end of it, I wasn’t just dealing with a gnarly case of runner’s knee, but I realized my experience of those trails had completely shifted. I was treating my time outside as an objective, rather than simply experiencing it.
This isn’t about abandoning big days or bigger goals. The goal is to remind ourselves that sometimes, it’s okay to slow down.
As we enter into a new summer season, I’m challenging myself to loosen my grip on the idea that time outside is all about maximizing—max miles, max vert, max return. And if you’ve caught yourself in a similar mindset, I encourage you to, as well.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about abandoning big days or bigger goals. Run tough races, pedal as many miles as your legs will take you, climb until your arms shake. Peak-bag, double your mileage on the car, paddle new sections of river. That’s all part of why we live here. The goal here is to remind ourselves that sometimes, it’s okay to slow down.
It doesn’t have to be a double-digit run or a puckering descent every time we go outside. It can be a walk with the pup. An evening spent by the river, with no plan beyond being there. Notice the birds, the bugs, the people you share this little corner of the world with. Just carve out time to truly seek out how beautiful a Montana summer is, and notice.
Downtime during a hike.
A pleasant walk with a loved one.
Slowing down isn’t about doing nothing. It’s about appreciating what’s right in front of you. It’s leaving the watch at home and noticing the ground under your feet, instead of focusing on how quickly you’re covering it. It’s ditching the camera once in a while and realizing these moments can be just as meaningful without documenting them—and even more so, as they live only in the memory: a secret, private place. A sacred place.
This summer, give the season the attentiveness it deserves. Because it will pass, like it always does. Faster than you expect, no matter how much you try to pack into it. And when it does, it might not be the biggest days you remember most. It might be the moments you decided to linger a little longer than usual, with nowhere else to be.
