I am getting a new Kindle from my wife for our anniversary (15 years!).
What should I read first?
To what periodical should I subscribe?
Would love some input!
Oct
13
I started to write as I have developed an interest. However, not being too sure what to write about, the topic is simply an interest: Running.
Your thoughts are encouraged – thanks in advance…
(PS – its not quite done yet)
Taking my Mind out for a Run
People run for various reasons. Shedding those few extra pounds that seem to taunt louder and louder each year seems to be the most common motivator. Others might be ceding to the requests of their doctor. Some of us believe there is one more Boston qualifying time in our makeup. Sometimes it is simply to justify putting the cream in the coffee that day or to run off the bowl of ice cream the night before.
Like others in my survey category, I have grown to enjoy running for the cleansing that occurs in my head, depending on what is going on in life or what my calendar is forecasting. Certainly, I have a weekly conversation with my scale and I am always concerned about walking my daughter down the aisle but I have changed the lens through which I view my running and feed it with different motivations than what used to push me out the door each day.
Often asked the question, “how far did you run,” I no longer respond with distance but time. My goals in running have evolved from race times and PR’s to the benefits it offers my mind and body. You might say my goals have matured. I realize that at 42 and change (lots of change) my Olympic aspirations may be behind me, though Dara Torres might argue to the contrary. Shifting my purpose has injected new life into a struggling career of running. I was fortunate not to have quit my day job, since a vocation in this sport for me would bear no fruit. Conversely, that day job does provide much of the fuel that now so energizes my runs.
With the final preparations complete and the green light initiating my soundtrack, I take the first few steps down Chestnut Street and peruse the table of contents in my mind for the day’s run. Some days I can choose the chapter, many days it is chosen for me. Preselected subjects include “How am I going to pay for that?” or “Am I the only one who takes out the trash?!”
Given the ability to choose, more desirable subjects include my daughters dancing or swimming or her great smile that will always energize my pace. Coaching my son’s little league team, watching them, and him, improve and have fun has illuminated the path of many runs. The chapter I always keep a bookmark in however is the one titled “Marriage.”
After almost 20 years of running, there is no chapter I turn to more than the pages that discuss my marriage and my wife. The only greater joy I possess other than the birth of my children is the perpetuating love I have for my marriage and my wife. As you might imagine, more footstrikes are turned over reviewing positions in a recent disagreement about dirt on the floor or whose turn it is to clean the bathroom or uniting on a decision regarding our children. However, the page I keep dog-eared is the page telling me how lucky I am to have made such a catch.
The evolution of my running is also commensurate with that of my faith. As I become more of the runner that fits my health, attitude and schedule, I have so developed my faith in much the same way. Schedules, traditional attitudes and conformation are no longer what define my faith. I take great sanctuary in my running and the chapter I turn to each and every run is “Prayer.” The recent passing of my father helped reveal this to me.
My family is very close and my Dad and I shared a special bond derivative of proximity and profession. His passing was and continues to be hard but he and I talk today through the clouds or as the tops of majestic trees wave in the breeze, through the medium of prayer. Being a better father, husband, son, friend and citizen while recognizing my faults also highlight the prayers of my runs. Though not the most traditional practice of Catholicism, prayer can and should occur anywhere and this faith is mine to decide where and when.
On recent runs, I have taken notice of a Great Blue Heron, indigenous to Southern New Jersey, guarding over the lake territory where I like to run, like a concerned parent. Perched at the top one of the tallest trees, it was then that I began to correlate this stoic, magnificent creature flying with precision atop the calm waters with Dad’s presence in my life today: still watching over me, aiding in my decision-making while reminding me of my inherent duty as his first-born to care for his bride and partner, Mom.
Numerous decisions, ideas and even epiphanies have manifest themselves out of a great many runs. It fascinates me how much apparent logic seems present on the macadam or trails relative to typical decision-making moments. Running is my organizer. Finding at times, when I need answers and I am having trouble arranging the data, a run helps me reshuffle the deck. I think I have redesigned my entire house… twice.
The chapter titled “Civics” is thrust open from time to time during the course of many runs. One thing I am willing to put money on is that a large percentage of road runners are sickened, or at least frustrated with litter. The side of every main road and most secondary roads are filled with the neglect of a segment of society that I have to assume must believe, “someone else will take care of it.” Returning from many a run, an entire political campaign has been developed on the “Down with Litter” platform. My civic duty as a responsible driver has also been enhanced. The count continues for how many back quarter-panels of cars I have attacked of the driver who fails to check right for oncoming runners while rolling through the stop sign, or “Slow” sign as we like to call them in Jersey. When I make my first citizens arrest, I will be sure to have it up on YouTube that day!
Another favorite chapter I like to call, “What would I do with $1 million?” With my mind in a more relaxed state, I like to unlock the gate and let it graze. What would I do with $1 million? There are numerous scenarios and the most fun is deciding in what creative way I would tell my wife. What would I do if I lose the ticket? Where would we live? Pool or no pool? Many ideas have amassed over a 20-year running career.
Stepping into the obscure, the questions and thoughts that volley back and forth in my mind take unique twists and turns. Did Neil Armstrong say “man” or “a man?” What would Abraham Lincoln do if he were president today? Am I saving enough for retirement? Do I see my friends enough? Do I drink too much caffeine? Should certain smells be illegal? Am I Republican or Democrat? Am I getting fat? What’s for breakfast? Hey – at least he’s out here! Where the bathroom?
There is probably no more humbling experience in anyone’s adult life than a visit to the infamous portable bathroom. The sights and smells reduce even the most elegant and graceful of us all to animal levels. My dog might try making it home to the yard before acquiescing to the stop. However, any runner would admit that there have been the moments that that portable bathroom has been their “water fountain in the desert”, or the “warm fire on a cold winter’s night”, the beacon for all that is good.
There are many reasons to run. Some feel there are many reasons not to run. A shift in focus for me has opened up new trails and routes to explore even though the street names have not changed. If the pressure becomes too great, you might ask, “what do I really expect to accomplish?” Don’t get me wrong, goals and PR’s may be the motivating factor that gets you out the door. However, there is another side to running that is just waiting for its trails to be run. There are so many different joys that derive from running, I feel bad for non-runners!
Jul
24
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