7.28.2013

wander.

I've been plenty busy as of late.  Busy working, busy writing, busy mowing (do NOT get me started).

All the while, I've been rounding into shape, reestablishing and then concentrating on maintaining fitness, fiddling with fueling and tinkering with my workouts trying to be at my very best for some upcoming endeavors.  I've consulted experts, Googled and Googled some more, looked at the watch, tracked my performance, if haphazardly.

I can't say how successful I've been and I anxiously await the proof-flavored taste of the pudding that will be served, ready or not, come mid-August.

A reexamination of the last few months, despite their being incredibly busy, can't help but reveal small pockets of time when another run could have been added to the schedule or one mile more, or two, or ten, might have been tacked on the end of another.  Yes, I could have gone longer, certainly faster.  Sleep would have happened just as easily an hour later.  The haze of another early rise would've cleared had I just shaken it off and gotten moving.

I want to be my best.  I really do.

Not sure, though, that having done EVERY single thing possible to get there from a running standpoint would have actually resulted in ME being my best on all other fronts.  The mind, mine at least, has a funny way of checking out and taking with it some of the strength of the body.

In addition to all else that is going on, I've been making an effort to remember to read too, to remind myself of how others select and polish words, to marvel at how skilled artisans are able to arrange those selections in such mesmerizing patterns.

While doing so, I revisited one of my favorite books of the last few years, Martin Dugard's To Be a Runner (seriously, if you run, mentor, coach, parent, draw breath, this is an author whom I strongly encourage you to seek out:   http://www.martindugard.com/).

I could quote the book ad nauseum, as there is wisdom and beauty on every page, but here is a passage most fitting in the context of my preceding comments:

"One of the great downfalls of the modern running movement is how anal and joyless some of its leading voices have made it.  Think of me as that great voice in the wilderness that says it's okay to have fun out there.

Throw the logbook away.  Stop pausing your watch at stoplights.  Go right when you meant to go left.

Wander."

Thank you, great voice in the wilderness.

Over the next few weeks, the remainder of the year and all life long, I intend to wander and I look forward to doing so with friends, old and new, with those that are always never more than a few miles away and others seldom seen.

Let the wandering commence.

8 comments:

  1. I think a lot of 'us' are now going 'right', going to wander. Thanks for the suggested author, I plan on following through and reading his works. Again, timely blog - wander it is!

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    1. Right on, Todd! You won't regret reading Dugard, I promise. Happy wandering!

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  2. Will definitely be checking out Dugard. I am such a slave to my watch and the miles logged on each run. A great reminder that I need to go 'right' more often!

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    1. Thanks for reading along...if you never read another word I write, but I got you to Dugard, I can hang up my "pen" a satisfied semi-writer. Happy going-right!

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  3. A great way to Wander is to go for a run when you typically would not. Many are locked into a 5-6.30am cycle other than weekends. Don't wait for a frustrating evening with the kids or some friction over what model ceiling fan is best for the master bedroom... Have dinner with the family, get the kids down, close the laptop and go for a little evening run around the block. There are a lot of cool neighbors that are evening people instead of more advanced morning people. Sunsets are cooler than sunrises, that problem canine on Millcreek Rd is too lazy to chase after dinner, and fireflies agree with the benefits of the dark. That's why God made headlamps. Cross train the mind in addition to the legs. Thanks, Leon.

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    1. Thanks, Piep! Way to tie in some geo-targeted call outs with good advice for everyone everywhere. One of these days, those Utah sunsets are going to be on my everyday schedule...and I look forward to it.

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  4. Getting lost on an out and back 20+ mile run is a great feeling. (Lost in my mind)

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  5. Agree - Mary Kowalski

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