Zen Running

Earlier this morning on my daily run, I had a Zen-like experience. I was out for an easy 4.5 mi run and decided to run through one of the parks in TH. The park has a paved path that winds through it. There were maybe three other people in the park while I was there, so no one to really bother me. Only one car on the road passed. It was about 45 degrees with overcast skies and light and variable wind. So, just about perfect distance running weather. If only it was 10 degrees warmer... but I refuse to belittle this run. I did the run totally unplugged; I went without a watch or mp3 player. I don't usually do that, but I recommend it every once in a while. I had just started running and was scaling a hill in the park when I felt almost bliss. The birds were chirping, the wind was nil, and there was no one around. It was blissful, solitary, and comforting. It was a rededication to running. Almost as if it was meant to be.

The experience continued through the run as I left the park. I didn't hear the cars as they passed. I felt only mildly tired when I was finished. As I slowed to a stop, I saw my breath as I exhaled. Not only did I see my breath, but as I saw out of the corner of my eye, I saw another source of steam. I looked to see if there was some unknown source near by. Some other source of heat, but nothing was apparent. Then I realized that other source was me. It was heat rolling off my head. (I didn't wear a hat or headband) Then as I was stretching, I noticed that my entire body was generating steam. I saw wisps of steam rising off my shoulders. It was apparent, b/c I was wearing a black L/S Nike Sphere shirt, which wicks pretty well and apparently lets steam through.

Throughout my run I kept thinking about Zen Buddhism and Taoism. I kept thinking about how running connects you to nature, how it keeps you centered and maintains a balance. When you are out on the road, you are fighting the elements. You are expending energy back towards the source of so much extrinsic energy. As you run, continually pounding the ground, energy is released back into the ground. It is absorbed through the repeated sound of the footstrike. The ground accepts it and responds by propelling the foot forward. As the steam was eminating from my body (head, shoulders, feet, mouth) the air was absorbing it silently, and using it for another purpose. As much as the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Brazil causes rain in Madagascar, my energy was in the like being used to generate some other force, some as yet unknown result of my labors.