The oldest memory I have of running was when I was about ten. My friend and I had this sudden rush of blood like Forrest Gump and started running! School Ground. 30 Lapses (mind you, each lap is about 400 meters)! Yeah you won’t believe it. We did end up with cramps that lasted over a week. I don’t remember doing the long distance again. I was a reasonably fast runner when it came to short sprints. Never got to be the fastest though.
During my college days, the only running I remember was the friendly jog at 6 in the morning with a friend of mine. It didn’t last. Such things never do. Besides, in college, I ended up with a rare distinction. Ligament tears through two freak bike accidents, back to back!
But, a decade later, I was to run again though. Well, ‘asked to’, would be more appropriate! My lipid profile was not impressive. Would you believe that? A 33 year old asked to burn those calories! Burn them? Where? Those who know my frame were equally stunned. Anyway, I recently found out that my job profile had to do with it more than my food habits. Well, whatever. The long and short of it was I was running again. But you know what? It ain’t so pretty when asked to. When you need to. Each day.
But there are a couple things that caught my interest.
First, the insurmountability of getting up at 5! That, to me, was the hardest part. You will be amused. Your mind races to some special reason why you just can’t run that day. Your ears strain to pick a drizzle outside. You feel for a bad throat. There is a trick though. Never give a moment to think. Make the get-up routine as mechanical as possible. Get up-Take a pee-Change clothes-Off you go. Don’t think about possibilities. Hit the road in 5 minutes. Because once you are in the road, the cool air just takes you in. Embraces and wishes you a great day ahead.
Second, Running means only one thing. Running fast. Trust me here. Jogging is like giving up on yourself. Accepting your senility, your limitations. Living a compromise. Seen the oldies that jog across? Your time will come. Do not be a disgrace to mankind now. Run, for your honor!
For the same reason, never share running with others. Do it alone. Make it personal. Running should be a penance. A meditation. Testing your limits. Limits of endurance. Maybe your endurance is poor. But testing it is the whole purpose. Maybe, it is good idea to inspire yourself watching “Without Limits” (Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman. Savor those legends). And then there is “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. Now, while ‘Without Limits' is explicit in its treatment, among other things (such as social injustice), it is the restrained celebration of running in “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” that gets to you.
As to my technique, ... well, I start with the warm up jog. Work up the pace. Then I just run. Though it is not much, I run to my lung capacity. Till my chest can’t take it anymore. I admit the full blast doesn’t last beyond 15 minutes. Then I wind down with a jog and walk back home in sweat, contented.
So, what is it, then, that makes running great?
When you run fast…., the degree can vary with people…but for all, it gets to a point when your chest begins to give up, give in. Your lungs starts to gasp for that extra air, your nostrils flare… But, you are alive once again. You are doing justice to your body. The whole body is breathing. It is like throw back to your youth. Of Muscles. Of Strength. A celebration of Life.
When you are running fast.... as fast as you possibly can ….have you ever wondered what is on your mind? where are your ‘thoughts’? where is the ‘mind’ that throws up the thoughts?… Where is your ego or ‘you’?
There is no mind. Only the running. Living the moment.
And who other than Eric Liddell, the ‘Flying Scotsman’, can explain it best. In “Chariots of Fire” Eric simply says "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure."
In other words, when you are not, you become Him. The joy in running!
During my college days, the only running I remember was the friendly jog at 6 in the morning with a friend of mine. It didn’t last. Such things never do. Besides, in college, I ended up with a rare distinction. Ligament tears through two freak bike accidents, back to back!
But, a decade later, I was to run again though. Well, ‘asked to’, would be more appropriate! My lipid profile was not impressive. Would you believe that? A 33 year old asked to burn those calories! Burn them? Where? Those who know my frame were equally stunned. Anyway, I recently found out that my job profile had to do with it more than my food habits. Well, whatever. The long and short of it was I was running again. But you know what? It ain’t so pretty when asked to. When you need to. Each day.
But there are a couple things that caught my interest.
First, the insurmountability of getting up at 5! That, to me, was the hardest part. You will be amused. Your mind races to some special reason why you just can’t run that day. Your ears strain to pick a drizzle outside. You feel for a bad throat. There is a trick though. Never give a moment to think. Make the get-up routine as mechanical as possible. Get up-Take a pee-Change clothes-Off you go. Don’t think about possibilities. Hit the road in 5 minutes. Because once you are in the road, the cool air just takes you in. Embraces and wishes you a great day ahead.
Second, Running means only one thing. Running fast. Trust me here. Jogging is like giving up on yourself. Accepting your senility, your limitations. Living a compromise. Seen the oldies that jog across? Your time will come. Do not be a disgrace to mankind now. Run, for your honor!
For the same reason, never share running with others. Do it alone. Make it personal. Running should be a penance. A meditation. Testing your limits. Limits of endurance. Maybe your endurance is poor. But testing it is the whole purpose. Maybe, it is good idea to inspire yourself watching “Without Limits” (Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman. Savor those legends). And then there is “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. Now, while ‘Without Limits' is explicit in its treatment, among other things (such as social injustice), it is the restrained celebration of running in “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” that gets to you.
As to my technique, ... well, I start with the warm up jog. Work up the pace. Then I just run. Though it is not much, I run to my lung capacity. Till my chest can’t take it anymore. I admit the full blast doesn’t last beyond 15 minutes. Then I wind down with a jog and walk back home in sweat, contented.
So, what is it, then, that makes running great?
When you run fast…., the degree can vary with people…but for all, it gets to a point when your chest begins to give up, give in. Your lungs starts to gasp for that extra air, your nostrils flare… But, you are alive once again. You are doing justice to your body. The whole body is breathing. It is like throw back to your youth. Of Muscles. Of Strength. A celebration of Life.
When you are running fast.... as fast as you possibly can ….have you ever wondered what is on your mind? where are your ‘thoughts’? where is the ‘mind’ that throws up the thoughts?… Where is your ego or ‘you’?
There is no mind. Only the running. Living the moment.
And who other than Eric Liddell, the ‘Flying Scotsman’, can explain it best. In “Chariots of Fire” Eric simply says "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure."
In other words, when you are not, you become Him. The joy in running!
enough said !
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