Between Moments

I recently downloaded the Zen of Running, a ’70s classic “Hippie” take on running from this website. It’s out of print, so I assume that the people who have made it available have done so legally.

Anyway, it’s a very short book and the pictures made me small - very classic bearded hippie running barebodied through the surf… However, I found myself identifying with a lot of what it was saying, as a sometime hopeless runner who’s recently discovered the capacity to jog for half an hour.

“you will be able to run tirelessly
if you follow this simple rule :
run within your breath ,
do not run ahead of your breath.
(you have to run
to discover what that means .)”

This is exactly what I discovered independently. Being a type A personality, I was always chasing times or heart rates etc and running was a slog - moreover it was a slog that I could manage for about 500metre stints (this has been the case since school). Recently, I discovered that adopting a pace that is tremendously slow (so slow I swear 8 years olds overtake me), I can keep it up for over 20 minutes. Moreover the slow pace allows me to think about my form and my posture.

“runners often speak of pain
and of course if you want that
you can have all you want
merely by pushing yourself
beyond your limits
every time you run .”

“running erectly —
shoulders, chest,
abdomen, hips,
in one plumb line —
your legs lift easily ,
knees thrusting up
and forward
freely .”

Thinking about it this way, my neck and shoulders hang down from the top of my head and my chest opens - the ground bears me up; I do not beat upon it.

A run has become a moving meditation and I have actually started to enjoy it.

“being aware of the details
of your running
gives you economy of energy
leading to purity of movement —
running free and easy ,
loping loosely and lightly — dancing !”

The book is thoroughly recommended.