On Running and Personal Time

Anyone who knows me knows that I love running. While I can't say I was thrilled to loose my job, I did find some excitement in the fact that I would have more time to get out and run. A funny thing is happening now as I am unemployed. I am running less.

Now, I still run about twenty miles a week which is more than most people run in a lifetime. I have also finished four books this year and I am 700 pages into the 1100 page History of the World by J. M. Roberts. One could argue that has cut into my running time the same way that the inconvenience of having to pay rent and stay off of wellfare used to when I had a job.

But there is something else as well. I need the pressure of work in order to have a need to clear my head by running. I have always considered running more of a mental exercise with beneficial physical side-effects. (No doubt, there are competitive runners who feel it is a physical thing that has mental benefits as well.) It has always been more of a contemplative act for me and it has taught me the need to meditate. It has given me a strange window of understanding as to why some people smoke and others perform yoga. We, as sentient beings, need to clear our minds. We need a break be it from email and voicemail, Netflix, the evening news, church, sleeping or whatever else is taking up too much of our time. We need the mental time to clear our heads and be unreachable. Some people take a lot of little breaks throughout the day, stopping for a cigarette every once in a while. Others may find the time to cook, read or even watch television.

This brings me to the following article in the New York Times: I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really. As a runner, I get the chance to break away from the cacophony of electronics that other people who are not running (or finding a break) are activating in order to activate my electronics so that, when I am not running (or finding a break) I can activate their electronics back to them in answer or vis versa if I contacted them first. I'll wait while you parse that last sentence. Ready? Good. Granted, I usually bring my mp3 player and I listen to news podcasts as often as I listen to music. But I do relish that alone time when no one can reach me.

So here I am. No worries. No concerns. No troubles indicative of the rat race... And a diminished desire to get out and race altogether.