Running is the habit I have for 5 years. It’s my religion and my demon. My ying yang after which I guide my life. It’s the corner where I am hiding from the outside world, it’s even the place where I deny my social needs.
Carl Jung had that same place in a private library, which he built in the Southern tower guarding the stone walls of his French château, while Mark Twain wrote much of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in a shed on the property of the Quarry Farm in New York , where he was spending the summer.
My “working place” is not something you can touch or see, my “working place ” is running. There I go regardless the season, day or hour. For me running becomes a timeless black hole.
I might say that running is in the same time a reset, a meditation and the best self-knowledge tool which I have at my disposal.
I am not going for a run only to be fitter or to have a big and better “engine”. I am going for a run when I feel the urge to be isolated, to be alone with my thoughts. My running corner is always there and is ready to embrace me warmly, like a good friend. After one hour I feel better as if all the missing pieces had been put back together.
In the same time running is a meditation tool available to me and anyone else. When I cross that line, everything seems to line up and have meaning. Future plans are being organized, articles are written, problems are solved. I feel like nothing can stand my way!!!
Running gave me this opportunity to discover myself. Where is my comfort zone, where my limits are defined? And as an ignorant, do not take them into account. Running is always rewarding even if it’s a bad run, a bad training.
I hope that running for you is just as important, otherwise I do not think we will understand and do not think we will become close friends. It’s not really a big disaster. I will return to my corner and you to yours.
Dearfully,
Robert H., ultrarunner.
