Tonight was my running night and so, despite a pretty heavy rainfall, I put on my gear and headed out. The run wasn't so great in terms of time or distance, but it was just what I needed. I'm trying to build my rhythm for working out so that I get into the pattern of run one, bike one, lift one, repeat, and like I said, tonight was the run one.
It wasn't a great run, but it was fun. If it had been just a tad warmer (it's about 50F here right now) I would have headed out without the hoodie, just shorts and t-shirt. There's something about heading out into the rain fully intending to get soaked that just makes it fun. The walk home form BART in my work clothes? not so great. Running in the rain, really great.
I think it comes back to the whole "accepting reality as it is" thing which is so key to Zen (and which Texafornia from ZenTri spoke about in a recent podcast from ZenTri camp). My "knowledge" of Zen being pretty basic (by that I mean I haven't studied a lot of writings by masters, I've read accounts of the way they lived and developed my understanding from there) I won't try to pass on some teaching from this. For me it was more a perfect opportunity to experience the difference mind (in a Zen sense) can make. There was no difference in the world between my walk home (~15 min) and my run (~20 min, maybe 10 minutes after I got home) but the way I reacted to it was entirely different, and all because I headed out for the run fully intending to get wet.
The world is what it is, but they way we react to it is entirely up to us. I've now experienced that in a very profound way.
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Excellent.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am not a runner. I despise it, in fact. I blame my 5 years in the Army for that. That said, there is one particular type of running I do enjoy and that is cross country. I find running through a natural surrounding to be quite exhilarating and yet calming at the same time. Especially if I'm the only one out on the trail. I really find a sense of peace then. Add in the rain and it's almost Nirvana. Barefoot running was not big back when I was running like it is now. I think I'd like to give that a shot some day on a trail. I've always been more of a barefoot style runner anyway - primarily using the balls of my feet rather than going heel-to-toe.
Nowadays, I find mountain biking the trails to be a good substitute, though I don't enjoy the rain as much - it just means more cleanup work on the bike.