Running & Writing, a Powerful Daily Therapy Session
A good pair of running shoes and a steely determination to soothe my soul was the price of entry. After that I was on my way toward healing, humility, and long overdue happiness. I am eternally grateful for the myriad life experiences made much better because I learned to write, run, and let go. Running solved many problems and oozed much needed insights with every foot-strike along the varied terrains of my past and present, while writing has helped to clarify said life lessons.
Meditation in Motion
Not that long ago I discovered the meditative benefits of running. More than learning to run faster I had come to the realization, as have countless people before and since, that life is a marathon.
The lessons are as unrelenting as they are, at times, unforgiving. Sure, there are notable tough lessons along the way but I didn’t desire competitive road races. In fact, I’d run 5Ks, 10Ks, half-marathons and two marathons just to enjoy the event and to visit new places.
Both of my marathons were in parts of the country where I had never previously visited. I figured that I’d need the distraction of a completely new environment in order to complete a 26.2 mile course, the designated length of a marathon. I was ecstatic just to finish and get my finisher’s tee shirt and medal.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
The talented Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami, wrote a novel titled: “What I talk About When I Talk About Running,” and like his other novels, this one is built around an almost obsessive urge to explore and understand the inner core of what it means to be human. His protagonists routinely journey into a metaphysical realm-the unconscious, the land of the dead-to examine directly (as possible) their memories of people and the things they have lost.
Murakami began running seriously when he was 33, in 1982. In recent years he has covered an average of six miles a day, six days a week and has competed in more than 20 marathons, and in 1996 he completed an ultra-marathon of 62 miles.
For Murakami, long-distance running is not just a metaphor for the loneliness of the long-distance runner and writer; it’s very much synonymous with it. Writing, he has said, is “an unhealthy type of work” because it brings the author face-to-face with the toxin that lies deep down in all of humanity.
Running, for your’s truly, has been about a journey of healing. I was not cognizant of that healing while engaged in the act but I’d come to learn just how valuable running had been. With writing, healing was a more obvious consequence.
But like any helpful therapy session: you only get out of it what you invest. I had been seeing a therapist for nearly three years, and paid for it out-of-pocket, because I did not want to leave a paper trail that might one day prove problematic (ex: not being able to get life insurance). I would never pursue a career in politics but maybe self-preservation was just too hard-wired into me to take any chances.
Running wasn’t always a meditative exercise. There was a time, back in high school, where I regularly aimed to compete- and win- every race in which I competed. But that quickly became a source of unnecessary stress and disappointment. After all no one wins every race.
My competitive streak had metastasized into a cancer. I constantly pushed myself in practice and in races; my initial happiness derived from the simple joys of running had all but vanished. Strangely enough, when it comes to writing, I’m not really competitive with others, just myself.
Running and Writing Are Merely One in the Same
The writers who I admire most: Murakami, Margaret Atwood, James Ellroy, Dosoevsky and Twain, are writers that I simply will never match. And because of that I enjoy a modicum of freedom to just write for self enjoyment.
Though they have inspired me to write I feel no pressure to compete. It’s akin to believing that I might, one day, outrun a gold medalist olympian runner. Therefore I am completely free. I’m not sure how I felt compelled to compete (initially) with running, possibly because it was limited to other similarly aged teens who also sought to compete, but it died a begrudging death. Thankfully.
But with writing, a different type of pressure surfaces: a pressure to produce, a certain number of words, per day, in order to continually improve. And that’s the challenge: to write at least 2,000 words per day, every day.
Wisdom...
Runner’s World magazine, Frank Shorter (made running accessible to everyday Americans), and a few hard-knocks had taught me well. Experience really is THE best teacher. Life’s lessons are what got me to meditate with motion, at least five days-per-week, and then sit primarily immobilized, while writing towards my goal of, at least, 2,000 words per day.
Back in my 20’s I was regularly logging 40 miles-per-week, injuries aside. That’s when I had discovered Runner’s World magazine, which had opened up a whole new wonderful world of healing. I had learned of the myriad joys and possibilities for gaining a peace of mind, while pounding the pavement.
I can only recommend that you read all of Haruki Murakami’s novels; they’re nothing short of amazing and make you feel happy to be alive. Frank Shorter, winner of the Olympic Gold Medal for the marathon in the 1972 Olympic Games, basically wrote the book of running and Runner’s World magazine made running easy to digest, enjoy and endure while learning how to live again.
To close, I’d like you to enjoy, as I have, the words of a few of my favorites, who may also inspire you:
“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start,” John Bingham, “No Need For Speed: A Beginner’s Guide to the Joy of Running”
“All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence. And this is a pretty wonderful thing. No matter what anybody else says,” Haruki Murakami
“I'm often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue,” Haruki Murakami, “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”
“Clear your mind of can’t,” Samuel Johnson
“You don’t run 26 miles at five minutes a mile on good looks and a secret recipe,” Frank Shorter
“We may train or peek for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport,” Alberto Salazar
“I like running. I like when it’s warm, if I can just hit a city block or hit a block, it gives me something to really concentrate on. And it’s time alone, so I really like that a lot,” singer Alicia Keys