Tag: running

Cut the cord and unplug…

June 3rd was international running day, a day to lace up the sneakers and hit the road for a few miles of exercise. Running when you really think about it is much more then a sport its a basic human movement that we have been utilizing since the begging of our species. Sure a sweet pair of running shoes and the awesome jams that your phone is laying down are a huge help but isn’t ultimately necessary for you to get from point A to point B. But what are you missing out on when the world is being drowned out by yet another distraction.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been on the no head phones team but its been a long time and I would like to offer up a few reason why you may want to join us weirdos.

  1. situational awareness. I don’t know about you but I think headphones have two sound levels, off or maximum volume. And when your blasting your jams at 10 the chances of you hearing anything else going on in the world is almost nothing. Furthermore I know that I have ran right through a minor intersection and had a few close calls with cars when I was so engulfed in my song. I know what your thinking “but music makes my runs go by so much quicker because I’ve got something that distracts me from what I’m doing.” Think about that one for just a second.
  2. This ones stolen from David Goggins. What are you going to fall back on for motivation when the cell phone isn’t there or runs out of battery. It’s really easy to get psyched up when your jam is on, I wish that every time I was feeling a little drained coldplay’s sky full of starts would start blasting right at the point where the beat drops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI ( 1:10 in is what I’m talking about) There’s definitely going to be times in life when the goings are going to be tough and popping in the ear buds is not going to be an option. Wouldn’t that run around the neighborhood be a great training ground for learning how to push through a challenge?
  3. And most importantly. How much time do you get in a day where you aren’t being lambasted with pictures, videos and advertising messages? I’m willing to be it isn’t much, the good news is my answer is probably very similar to yours. So the question becomes when do we have time to contemplate our existence, work through our day to day and global issues and just let our mind wander like a 4 year old? You may not be surprised by my answer but it’s when were out for a walk or run.

Running for me is way more then exercise it’s a cathartic time where I let my mind wander and ask and answer the questions that are front of mind. I think I’ve probably said this before but i’m almost certain 90% of what you’ve read on this blog has been hashed out while pounding the pavement. I am fully convinced that if I was listening to the punk rock station on Pandora we wouldn’t be doing this together on a weekly basis.

When we have that constant digital distraction in our lives its very easy to lose sight of the beauty in the everyday world. I cringe to think how many sunsets, neighborhood cats and toilets that have been repurposed as planters that I’ve missed in my life as I blindly ran towards an arbitrary finish line. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAv4zc7hmk8/

I really believe Ferris Bueller said it best “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

The people are the best part

About a month I ran in the Hellcat 50k at Historic Lee Field in Green Cove Springs Florida. The race is put on by the military museum of north Florida and features 5 loops around the airfield, in the grand scheme of trail races its not the hardest but the significance of the venue makes it pretty awesome.

I’m not going to focus much on the actual race in this post but more on a gentlemen that I was lucky enough to spend several hours with and some of the lessons that I will take away from this run in the woods.

The first loop I mostly ran by myself I was between the lead pack and the second group of runners. To be honest I was proud of myself that I stuck to the planned pace and didn’t run with the lead group as I’m sure that would have lead to some disastrous results.

On the start of lap two this guy looks at me and says “lets go” and off we went for about 15 miles. After some small talk about the day, races we had run and wanted to run he tells me that he’s 57 years old and that this is his 120th race of marathon distance or longer. Ultra events are great for putting you back in your place, just as soon as you think your’e pretty cool someone 20 years older then you drops an accomplishment bomb like that and your’r right back to newbie territory. But wait it gets even better the last 100 marathons were after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Exercising for 5+ hours is seriously difficult on your body and trying to stay fueled for optimal performance is difficult to say the least with a fully functioning endocrine system. This mans dedication to running and fitness was truly inspiring.

We discussed life, philosophy, jobs, raising kids and all sorts of other topics along the way until I eventually had to walk for a bit during the fourth lap due to a little bit of over heating. fortunately the next mile or so was shaded and the aid station had plenty of waters and a much needed banana and I was back to running strong for the remaining 7-8 miles leaving me with a finishing time of 6:12 putting me in the top third of finishers.

Now we can get to the moral of the story… life throws a lot of obstacles in our way, some are pretty small and easy to overcome like getting a little to hot on a run others like diabetes are massive boulders that can stop us dead in our tracks. This guy was a runner prior to what the doctors told him 100 marathons ago, he didn’t quit he just figured out how to overcome the extra challenges that were going to be placed in front of him and he made it happen.

We could and often fine the reasons to complain about any number of bad situations that get placed in front of us every single day or to paraphrase Scott Worthington, race Director of the Revenant ultra race. https://www.revenant.co.nz/

” complaining sounds like a lot like failing to find the solution to the problem that you are currently facing.”