Resonance

Harmony in the High Country

Aug 17, 2025

Death Cab for Cutie’s eight-minute Transatlanticism is like a slow tide rolling in. It gathers in layers, sparse and intimate until the first crunch of guitar at a minute-thirty. At that moment in the song, 29 miles into the Prospector’s 50k, the emotion of the day swelled, broke over me, and I wept with joy. Really. I cried.

In the Montana high country, with only myself and the mountains to witness, this old dude experienced a flash of resonance.

0:00

-0:20

In music, resonance happens when something vibrates in sympathy with an airborne sound wave. A guitar string is plucked. The hollow body of the instrument hums, amplifying the sound and creating a harmony. The vibrations reinforce each other in just the right way and you don’t merely hear it… you feel it.

Humans absorb the energies of the environment and people near us. When harmony exists—when the frequency of our energy aligns with the world around—we can experience moments so extraordinary they might be described as sacred, connected to something bigger.

A Rightness

Deja vu is the feeling of having already been in a present situation, even though you know it’s not possible. There are lots of theories as to why it occurs. My wife and I have our own, more woo than science. We take it as a sign that we are exactly where we’re supposed to be.

Resonance is like that—a signal that we are operating in harmony with the Universe. In these rare moments, we are undeniably present, exactly where we’re supposed to be. Friction fades. Running does the running and we are simply spectators. It is all at once peaceful and exhilarating.

“Running for me is very much a spiritual practice. Deep into an ultramarathon, there is inevitably a moment where everything falls away and I'm just a being in space. Just moving through the world. You have these moments of flow and Zen.”
—Ben Gibbard, Death Cab

As I rounded a final switchback at Prospector’s, the towering Beartooth Mountains opened their arms. The orchestration of Transatlanticism kicked in. My mind was clear and my legs were fresher than they should have been after five hours on the trail. The sun bathed me in warmth. Soon, I would hug my girl. I was home.

A Performance Connection

Not only does resonance inspire transcendent, freewheeling joy, it also unlocks tough-to-access performance benefits. Separated from our ego, we are music, not musician. Obsession with results relieved, we dissolve into intuition.

Call it the carbs (and I did put down 80 grams an hour), but my final three miles were quick. Death Cab on repeat, I let go. My feet found their right spots between rocks and I flowed down the 1,600-foot descent. This happened at CIM as well—another morning where I left my body and cruised smoothly through fast last miles.

Across sports, elite performers describe moments where the self dissolves. After delivering a legendary qualifying lap in the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna famously said, “I realized I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension.”

3 Keys to Cultivating Resonance

We can all see the appeal of times when there is no need to steer, when anxiety softens and we run with ease. It’s so nice, we might wonder if it’s possible to exert just a little authority in the equation. Can we create the conditions for resonance?

The answer is, “maybe.” Here are a few commonalities between the times I’ve found resonance on the run:

I started with gratitude: We don’t force our way into flow with a constrained heart and mind. Freedom is essential. The fast path to freedom is via gratitude. As soon as possible, identify what you’re thankful for. Name the stuff. Try to live in that place. Remember: “Get to” not “got to.”
I saw beauty: Apologies to cynics and tough guys, but beauty is everywhere. The times I have marveled at the people, sights, and atmosphere around me were when resonance happened. You don’t need to be in the wilds of a backcountry trail race. Look around on your next daily and say it out loud: “Wow.”
I let go of results: In the uplifting Inner Excellence, Jim Murphy writes, “Seek to be wholehearted and fully engaged rather than successful.” The heart does not care if we win. That’s the ego. Approach running and racing with love and connection as the goals, and you open the door for resonance. Think: “Joy over judgment.”

The Finish Line

There is a thread that runs through our lives, stitching together our stories. Usually, we’re too hurried and distracted to notice it. But every once in awhile, a chord is struck somewhere and we feel the thread vibrate.

Thinking back on race weekend, I realize the entire four days was kismet, alive with lightness and rightness. We stood in awe of wildlife and boiling earth in Yellowstone. I cracked a joke at the start line and people laughed (I never do that). Three bighorn sheep sprinted down a scree field mere yards from me on the trail. We paddle-boarded an alpine lake, reveling in the quiet.

Rounding that final bend at Prospector’s was not a lone moment of resonance—it was simply the moment I became aware of my thread. As writer Mark Manson puts it, “Happiness isn’t something you achieve. It’s something you notice.”

Run lightly,
-mike