LOG: 3.2 Miles

Ran 3.2 miles around noon to melt away the Thansgiving dinner.

It started out chilly and cold. Ended warm, with rays of sunshine piercing through the clouds.

Everything changes and one becomes so aware of these changes while running. It's an open classroom under the skies, this love of running.

Winds change... lights change... clouds, time, the fragrance in the air... the houses I pass by... they all change.

So much teaching, for free. So many simple things to learn, over and over again...

Pain is bad and alarming when running. If you are in pain, you should never run. But STRESS is normal. We are stressing our lungs, muscles, mind, and spirit. That's how the mind becomes SHARP. The stress of running gathers every drop of concentration and resource we have, to put us over that invisible barrier of self-imposed limits. I remember how surprised I was the day I ran my first 10K. I just couldn't believe it! When it accomplishes such seemingly-impossible tasks the mind gains in CONFIDENCE. It becomes SURE and fond of itself. It starts to meditate on the SUBTLE SECRETS of existence without any effort... like the IMPERMANENCE of things. Change.

I run. Therefore I change. Yes I do. Like the spirit gliding silently over the surface of the infinite water.

Ahh, My Shoes...

Shoes are so important to running. If you've got the wrong shoes you'll just end up hurting yourself. The correct and comfortable shoes are worth every single penny you spend for them.

Here are my current shoes, NEW BALANCE 737 (sounds like an airplane model, doesn't it?):

 I know that there are many other excellent running brads out there including NIKE, ASICS, ADIDAS, and others. But I feel most comfortable with NEW BALANCE and never waver from it. I haven't tried NEWTON shoes and I hear they are pretty good too.

Here are my two previous sets, also NEW BALANCE, that I now use only for yard work or running to the supermarket to buy something:

NB 645:

NB 718:

You're supposed to wear a running shoe for 500 miles. Given the fact that I average 12 miles a week, it means I need to buy a new pair every year -- which I do.

This calculating-the-miles business is so funny because I sometimes end up reminding myself that I ran "from here to New York City" or some other city of my fancy.

Have you read that immortal John Cheever story, "The Swimmer", the story of a guy who one day decides to go back from Manhattan to his Long Island home by just swimming his way from one swimming pool to another? I sometimes also fantasize that I'm running my way around the world at 3 or 4 or 6 miles at a time...

Meb Keflezighi finished the New York City Marathon in 2:9:15

(Excerpts from a WSJ article)

When Meb Keflezighi finished the New York City Marathon in two hours, nine minutes and 15 seconds the morning after Halloween, he became the first American to win the race in 27 years. But some spectators apparently missed the three red letters on his chest as he burst through the tape. Keflezighi is only "technically American," argued CNBC sports writer Darren Rovell. He's "like a ringer who you hire to work a couple hours at your office so that you can win the executive softball league."

Though Mr. Rovell has since backtracked, nobody recalls similar comments about Alberto Salazar, the Cuban-born American who won in 1982. And if Meb's name was Joe Smith and he was born in England rather than Eritrea, few would have questioned his national identity.

When I meet Meb the morning after his appearance on the David Letterman show—almost as great as winning the race, he quips—he is unbothered by the debate raging on the Web about his American-ness. "What's the list of things you need to be an American?" he asks rhetorically. "You live here, you pay taxes, you live by the American way. I've been here for 22 years. I'm as American as you can get."

As for wearing the USA tank top: "What a beautiful day to wear it on. In New York, to win my first marathon in that jersey—it just gave me great pride."

...

"Born in 1975, Mebrahtom (his full name means "let there be light") grew up in an Eritrean village with no electricity and no running water. Besides poverty, Meb's parents, Russom and Awetash, feared for their family's safety because of Russom's involvement with the Eritrean Liberation Movement and because of the ongoing war with Ethiopia. Meb's father decided to flee. "He walked all the way"—60 miles—to Sudan, Meb says. Russom eventually made his way to Milan, Italy, where he worked to raise the money to bring his family out of East Africa.

On Oct. 21, 1987, a date that rolls off Meb's tongue, the family immigrated to San Diego as refugees with the help of the Red Cross and the sponsorship of Meb's half-sister, Ruth. "Dad used to wake up at 4 a.m. so we could learn English," Meb says. "He worked as a taxi driver and worked in restaurants to be able to feed the family.""

Running, Religion, & Altered State of Consciousness

Rostock Marathon.JPG
Rostock Marathon (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia)

© Ugur Akinci

Long distance running commonly creates a suspension of knee-jerk judgments and creates a sense euphoria that is sometimes also referred to as an “altered state of consciousness.” As an amateur runner who averages only about 10 to 12 miles a week, I still concur with that statement.

Actually there are quite a few religious orders which use long-distance ultra-marathon running (anything over 26 miles) as a tool to transcend the body consciousness, to eliminate the mental limitations and biases, and to open up the mind to a new “floating” awareness which looks at the world from a brand new objective point of view. There are actually reports of out-of-body experiences among some ultra-runners as well.

The Shri Chinmoy Order headquartered in New York City, for example, is well known for the fantastic running feats it encourages its members to tackle in order to transcend the mind’s concepts about “physical reality” and the “body’s limitations.”

The Shri Chinmoy Marathon Team regularly organizes and participates in 50K and 100K races.

The “Running Monks” present another amazing fusion of running ands religious discipline.

In order to gain access to higher levels of consciousness through running, a certain Buddhist sect in Japan allegedly run (are you ready for this?) 100 marathons on 100 consecutive days!

Waking up at 1:30 a.m. in the morning, the monks pray and meditate for an hour. Then they hit the road and run 26 miles. After the marathon they are back to their normal daily chores nd prayers, and then to bed early in the evening.

The next day they do it all over again, for 100 days straight.

The monk who fails in the task, is asked to “end his life with the belt of his robe,” according to the Shri Chinmoy web site.

I’m all for pushing my body a little in order to reach a somewhat more elevated state of consciousness, humility and kindness.

But I don’t think I’ll ever reach a stage where I’d be going for the belt of my robe just because I can’t run 100 marathons in a row. I hope not anyways.

LOG: 3.2 Miles

This morning I woke up and had this conversation with the weather:

ME - You're cloudy, chilly, and downright nasty.
Weather - I know. And I'm in the low-40s too. Stay in bed. Don't move! Curl up and fade away.
ME - I don't think so.
Weather - What you mean?
ME - Your tricks won't work on me, buster!
Weather - Uh-oh! Here he goes again!

15 minutes later I was out in my running shoes, banging the pavement. 40 minutes later I was back home, ready for that warm cup of tea and toasted bread with jelly.

The world is fine again.

LOG: Walked 3.2 Miles

Taking it easy today, partly because my wife does not run. So we go out together a couple of times a week for long walks. To me, believe it or not, walking is HARDER than running! For some odd reason I prefer to run than walk. I feel more tired after I come back from a 5 mile walk than a 5 mile run.

Late Jim Fixx. RIP.

But I also understand that as we get older we need to watch out for our heart and joints.

Do you remember Jim Fixx, the author of (out of print) Complete Book of Running? He was a phenomenon running guru back in the late 70s and early 80s. He singlehandedly kicked off the jogging craze in America and England and then one day in 1984 he had a massive heart attack and died while he was running at age 52...

I was so deflated and disappointed with his unexpected demise. Later on it turned out he had a congenital heart problem to start with and perhaps he should've never taken up running and should've walked instead (hindsight is always perfect, isn't it?). But I'm sure he enjoyed every minute of his running career as long as it lasted. He made a lot of money in the process too. So overall, I have a feeling he did not have a bad life at all. May he rest in peace.

Again, in a recent WSJ profile, Meb Keflezighi, the first American to win the New York marathon within the last 27 years, related how he was devastated by witnessing the death of a close friend in the midst of a marathon race:

"The Olympic trials in 2007 brought no such victory. Not only did Meb not make the Beijing team—he finished eighth—he fractured his hip during the race. Then there was the terrible tragedy of Ryan Shay's death. The rising marathon star and Meb's close friend suffered a massive heart attack during the race. During this year's marathon, Meb crossed himself in the spot where Shay went down."

So you gotta take it easy and listen to yourself, watch for signs of unusual pain and stress, and you should know when to back off and scale it down. Best is of course to go and see your doctor and have a physical if you do not feel right. Running is not for those with heart problems, I'm afraid.

A chilly and bright sunny day. Writing about running again got my "running juices" flowing. Wow! Who knows? I might get out again before sundown and squeeze in another 3 miles into this day's glory. What a great day to be alive, to be walking and running, and feeling life course through our veins and tendons, gently, almost with love.

The Correct Running Form

This is a very useful video clip if you did have any formal training in running. If your form is off, you can end up hurting yourself.

The rule is simple actually: Do NOT run on your HEELS. Run on mid-foot, mid-sole. This video explains it pretty well.



This video is obviously shot to plug in the NEWTON shoes and I'm a strictly NEW BALANCE guy. But despite all that I think it's a great clip, especially for the beginners.

LOG: 4.2 miles

Just enjoyed a leisurely 4.2 miles in my regular 11-min/mile pace. Sky was cloudy when I started out. Then the sun broke through on mile 3, right around the sunset.

Heard a lot of latchkey dogs barking every time I passed by a house.

Back at home, I poured myself a glass of cold pomegranate juice (POM brand, 100% juice). Vicious! Spread through my veins like rocket fuel. Life is good again.

Note to myself: lose weight! 10 pounds by the year's end would be nice.

Running, Epinephrine & Getting "High"

Epinephrine Molecule (Illustration courtesy of Wikipedia)

Running becomes a positive addiction due to the epinephrine hormone the body releases as a response to the natural stress of the activity itself.

There are those who still argue whether running is “natural” or not but I know one thing for sure – running can really get you “high” especially if you push over the 5K limit.

That happens when you run long distances because like in all cases of physical stress, your body releases the epinephrine hormone so that you can cope with the “threat” of a higher-than-usual level of effort.

Epinephrine, coming from Greek “epi+nephros” (“to the kidney”) is also known by its Latin name, adrenaline (ad+renes, or, “on the kidney”).

Secreted by the glands sitting on top of our kidneys, epinephrine is what all “extreme sports” fans (bungee jumping, boxing, parachute jumping, skiing, car racing, etc.) are hooked on.

Police officers, firefighters, bail bondsmen, detectives, and soldiers in combat are also intimately familiar with the heart-racing, blood-pressure hiking effects of epinephrine. It’s an evolutionary solution to the instant need to get the body ready for a fight-or-flight confrontation in the extreme cases.

Running does not present such a do-or-die challenge (thanks goodness!) however the sheer exertion involved in the activity still triggers good amounts of epinephrine get released into the blood stream.

I'm 59, Slow, and I Love to Run!

I started to run when I was 49.

My best is 33 min for 5K and 72 min for 10K. (I told you: I'm slow.)

There's something profoundly MYSTERIOUS about running when you're all alone... yet connected to EVERYTHING ELSE in the universe, in real time!

You wanna know what a person is really like? Go out with him or her on a 10K run...

By the way...

This blog is inspired by my reader T.K. who today wrote me this:

"I just read your article on running after 50 – I just turned 51 in June and haven’t exercised much at all the last three years. I have never been a runner but my husband is, so I thought I would google…running after 50. Your article inspired me, so I am going to give it a try."

God bless you T! I wish you well.