I am a runner. I run about 5 km everyday after work. I’ve been doing this since 2001.
Running is addictive. When I don’t run, I feel sluggish and grouchy. And I find it hard to fall asleep at night. But there are also days when I find it hard to put on my running shoes and hit the asphalt and those days can sometimes stretch for a week or so, and I usually end up feeling very guilty for not exercising.
I was thinking about this and Haruki Murakami’s book “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” yesterday as I ran my 5k, and thought why not write about what goes through my mind when I’m running. So here goes – some of the things I usually think about:
- I want to turn around and go home. One of the hardest thing about running is the perseverance; the will power to push on another metre and another and another. That is why I don’t run on a treadmill but on the road. Because when you’re on a treadmill you can just as easily hop off as you hopped on whereas with running on the road, I know I must run to get home, so the farther I run from home, the farther I must also run to get home. It’s all about mental strength and discipline. I put myself in a situation where I must do what I don’t want to do in order to get to where I want to go. It’s also about tuning out that little nagging voice in my mind that tells me to take a shortcut, go home and tuning into more positive thoughts. In other words, when I run, I don’t think about running.
- Imagine if I could sing like this. I run with my iPod on and I listen to my favourite tunes. I usually switch to Michael Buble and Renee Olstead once I hit cruising speed. “Cruising speed” is how I describe that zone my mind is in where I am no longer conscious of the fact that I am running but am enjoying the view and the music; where my running stride matches the tempo of the music. That’s when I know my mind is no longer affected by anything physical. I don’t feel pain anymore. I don’t feel tired. My mind is elsewhere as my body runs. I usually imagine myself singing along to the tunes from my iPod and picture myself on stage crooning away and when I do that, I’m sure a stupid smirk must appear on my sweaty face. But main thing is, I am cruising.
- Work, work, work. Most of the time, I run in order to forget. To stop thinking about stressful things in my life because running frees my mind from these negative things. I burn up all the negativity within me. But sometimes, I run so that my mind can step back, re-look and solve some of these problems that I may have. There have been many times when I’ve drafted legal documents, arguments and court submissions in my mind while running. It is less stressful and I achieve two things at once – exercising and finishing my office work.
- Don’t Make Eye Contact With the Guards in the Towers. Towards the last kilometer, I must run past my town’s prison facility. It is the only prison and was built in the 1950s. Back then, the area would’ve been considered to be the town’s outskirts but with the passing years and the accompanying development, the facility is now very near to the centre of town and easily visible from my backyard. On all four corners are guard towers with their massive search lights and guards armed with rifles. As I run past below these towers, the guards look down at me suspiciously. Walk, and they start to think you’re up to no good. Look up at them, and they stare back at you very coldly. So I just run as quickly as I can and look down at the road. It is a long stretch along the 20 foot walls and I can hear the inmates inside. I’ve had the chance to go inside on a few occasions, accompanying my colleagues to meet and interview inmates accused of murder. Living (and working) conditions are cramped and I felt claustrophobic after half an hour in there.
- Think Happy Thoughts. Think about the Weekend. I hate Mondays but love Fridays and Saturdays. During the working week, I am happy on Thursdays and happiest on Fridays. Thinking about and planning what to do on the weekends distracts me from the actual running. But to be honest, I don’t do much on weekends except read and take care of my baby girl … and the occasional movie on dvd.
- Think about the Meaning of my Life. I guess the one thing that I think about the most when I run is my life. I think about where I am headed to, about my dreams and things I want to achieve. I wonder about fate and destiny, and almost always when I think about this, I deliberately take a different turning and run a longer route … as if to turn my thoughts on chance and destiny into action. Was I destined to turn into this road anyway? Or did I just alter my life’s direction by this act?
And when I stop to think of the above, I start to think about running again. By then, I am almost home. The last few meters are the most difficult as my body feels like giving up and just walking home instead. But this is the most crucial part, where I must overcome that urge to give up. I press on and I run harder, pounding on the road until I reach the gates of my house. And I look back, feeling tired .. but proud.
In so many ways, running can be a metaphor for life. You start off with an idea. A plan. A mission. And you embark on it. Your goal lies at the end of the path that you’re on. You work your way towards it. Sometimes you hit road bumps and obstacles, but you think your way through these things. Using positive thoughts, you overcome them. And you press on until the end is in sight. You persevere. You don’t give up.
And in the end, you triumph because you focused on finishing what you started.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts about running. I like to run on a treadmill in the gym and watch other ladies at the neighbouring treadmill and think to myself : "So you think you look good in that pink leotard and sexy top aye? well..I'll show you, I'll show you who can stay on this treadmill longer and stronger…huff, puff.. huff………. so you think you are so cool.. wait till you see this!" and then I'll up my speed on the treadmill with the pop music pumping in the background…. nothing motivates me like a good competition!
Michael Buble for running..hmm… would you not try Black-eyed pea, pussy cat dolls instead? I think that would surely motivate you to run another 5km on top of your daily 5km!
I used to run on the treadmill years ago .. in my "younger days" when I frequented the gym everyday.
The rows of treadmill machines were all lined up facing the windows looking out of the building, and right behind the treadmills was the aerobics/dance room, separated by a glass wall. Inside the room, the pretty ladies would exercise facing out towards the treadmills.
And as wise men would say – "therein lies the problem."
A young man like me (…way back then), eager to prove his manliness and agility, and stamina, and fitness would run faster and longer, not knowing when to stop trying to impress the weaker sex. Believe me, I'd be running more than an hour on the thing like a mouse on a running-wheel going after a dangling piece of cheese. While the view of my back would betray nothing, my face – if you could stand in front of me – would be grimacing and aching, begging for the aerobics class to stop already!!
The dance music stops, the ladies file out.. and 5 minutes or so later when I was sure no one was still around to see, I'd slam on the quit button and just collapse.
Pride (or rather, ego) can kill.
I have some fast tracks on my iPod too but they cause me to over exert myself. Slow ones with constant rhythms like Buble I find helps me maintain the correct speed for long distance running. You need to be transported away with the swaying music, and not be reminded to pound the floor harder to keep up with the beat. That's my own preference.
But do you have a song that you hit to ignite the nitro or afterburner? My personal favourites are "Come Rain, Come Shine" and "El Nin-yo!", both by Tata Young. I use those songs to fuel the last km, usually. Works everytime.
ok I get it. Treadmill in the gym, fast songs are too intense for your ageing body. as they say the will is there, but the flesh is weak…. something to that effect..
well.. no specific after burner song, but "swings" are good. While wasting the days over at the sofa I listened to new age piece. I don't know why they called it new age genre, but they are really good stuff. stuff like these:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=rea...
notice the floral cover CD… ..good for relaxing the mind, takes you to another realm…..
You mean the floral cover takes you to another realm? Gee, that's pretty intense.
Imagine what the music would do to you.
Ok wise guy. I am getting to you to focus on CDs with floral cover, which is the CD you should be looking at, instead of other images! My glitch. somewhat like the music you are playing in your website right now..
Nah, I'm going to continue focusing on En Vogue.
[...] why do people run? before i pen my own thoughts i wanted to share an excerpt from a post by reading monk about some of the things he thinks about when [...]
Running. Someting I haven’t done for the past… 65 days. Felt guilty about it, but nevertheless do nothing about it.
I studied in a public uni in Skudai, and stayed in campus; one of those far-off residential colleges at the end of the campus. I jogged/walked daily, clocking around 1 hr for each jog/walk. On days when I feel like upping that 1-hr mark, I jogged up to this observatory hall, at the highest altitude in this campus.
I run for that escapism, when academic or personal matters seem so hard to clear from the mind. Occasionally, I would run to clear off those negative emotions. I pitied a faculty mate of mine, whom on several occasions, tried to stop and chat but were shocked to see tears streaming down my face. Fortunately he knew better than to press on for answers.
Running does give that extra boost in energy. In those (not long ago) undergrad years, I could maintain just 5 hours sleep and work off the day without any complaints. At present time, I work in campus for a research. Having more time to work and less time to run around, I get tired easily.
And you’re right about the metaphor! My way of motivation is to time my jog/walk and try to beat the previous records set.
Just wanting to make sure. Is that stretch of jail you’re talking about is somewhere in Kpg Dato, Sibu? Have always wondered about those living behind those walls, but never had the nerve to ask around.
Doria – hello!
As always, thank you for dropping by and I appreciate the time you took to write your thoughts in response to my article.
Honestly, running is the best thing for re-energising and re-focusing. I can think of no other sporting activity that you can do alone and yet finish feeling like you’ve had the best spiritual conversation.
There is always time for things you want to do. For example, those who complain about not having enough time to read books, I usually respond by telling them that if they have time to watch television or to read newspapers, surf the internet, then they have time for books.
Always time, Doria. You just have to make them for yourself.
A friend once said to me, imagine if you had just a month to live. You’d definitely be able to make time for everything you couldn’t do before because of work.
Think about that.
(And yes, that’s the prison building. I run behind it along the scenic trails that meander through the old Government Quarters)