Run for Your Life
kinfolk.com
kinfolk.com
I’m still chasing that feeling on the bike. I don’t get quite as zen on the bike. I think it’s because there is more speed involved (going into my mind at 20+ mph isn’t a good idea) and because I’m not getting the proprioception feedback (there’s just something about ambulating through space that’s hypnotic). I still get the post-exercise benefits and I’m hoping to chase down more of the zen as I go farther and farther on the bike.
I think the article has some dubious reasoning when coming up for justifications for why ultramarathons tend to attract rich white guys. I think the biggest elements in any endurance sport are time and overall nutrition. If you don’t have the time to train and the resources to fuel yourself consistently with high quality food you’re probably not going to enjoy training and participating in ultra endurance events, no matter how much you “yearn for a rawer form of human experience” or want to exercise your “control-and-conquer mentality.” Societal inequality means that the people who have an excess of time and money can participate, hence the rich white guys.
I’m grateful to be one of the lucky ones who can participate, even though I probably only qualify for one half of the “rich white guy” descriptor. I’m fortunate to be self employed, which gives me a lot of control over my schedule.
Final thought: The anecdote about the Kenyan professional is ridiculous. The “motivated” amateur calls out the professional for quitting the race when he injured his toe and says it’s because “he wasn’t there to suffer,” then goes on to insinuate that the professional only wanted to feel good. In reality the Kenyan professional relies on running as his profession (one which likely gives him a better standard of living than almost any other opportunity in his country) and rightly wants to protect his body as it needs to be in good working order to do his job. What kind of person puts down a professional for looking after himself so he can feel better about running a long distance?
Excerpted from “The Perfect Game”, by G.K. Chesterton
It probably would have been more charitable to point out the fact that the pro is probably motivated by continuing to pursue his livelihood instead of feeling “good and strong,” or even that feeling good and strong is required for his day job.
I also bristled a bit at the contrast of running as a professional sport versus an extreme test of body and mind. It seems to me that pro athletes are definitely engaged in an extreme test of body and mind, and likely moreso than the weekend warrior looking to suffer occasionally to escape the doldrums of modern work or whatever.
Really depends what biking, Downhill biking needs more Core muscles the anything i know, with one exception witch is Motocross.
Sprinting Street-bike training also needs loots of Arm-muscles.
I hate to reduce your post to tech talk. But, what bike are your riding? I try and build a lot I'd bikes and the experience differs wildly. For starters, <40 mm tires sucks for zen riding.
I have an old steel cross bike transformed into a grocery getter that’s outfitted with wide slick tires, a rear rack, and pannier bags that I use when I need to haul stuff around. I have a gravel bike with disc brakes, wide knobby tires, and a slightly more relaxed geometry for riding/exploring on gravel/dirt or rougher paved roads. I have a carbon “race” bike with deep section wheels and a pretty aggressive geometry for going fast on paved roads.
I sometimes get close to the “zen” feeling that I got when running ultra distances but it goes away pretty quickly when I’m doing anything but going in a straight line on flat roads with no traffic. As you can imagine this doesn’t happen often. Contrast that with trail running (most of what I did for ultras) where I was just rambling along in nature. It was much easier to look inward when running on the trails.
I sometimes ride a bike with fatter tyres in the city and I never get in that zen state. Probably because I have to stay very alert, even when riding on bike paths separate from the street.
I don't know about zen but it sure can get my mind off work and troubles. I used to do long, somewhat urban commutes on my bike. I didn't have time to think about whatever because in that environment I needed to be fully in the moment.
The pulsing flow of the other skaters; the groups, like schools of fish, expanding and contracting, creating gaps to squeeze through on only one foot which then immediately close hard behind you, blocking anyone who may have been following, meaning that any path through congestion is necessarily unique to the individual. The requirement of an almost full 360-degree awareness of a varying number of parts all moving at different speeds. And yet family-friendly at the same time in the same space.
There’s a reason pro athletes consider eating and resting adequately a significant part of their full-time job.
https://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Economic-...
This NYT article outlines some of the earnings for top Kenyan runners, which run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The article also focuses on some of the issues that come with the increased earnings, which seems to parallel the “lottery winner” effect where riches don’t necessarily lead to health and happiness.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/sports/kenyan-runners.htm...
I’m sure there are opportunities outside of running, and some of them are probably even better. So perhaps it would be more accurate to say that running is a better than average opportunity based on the data.
I.e. once I hit my toe I cannot avoid the pain but I don't necessarily need to go around suffering all day?
I.e. sometimes when I fry something hot oil hits my hands. The pain is immediate but I laugh at it instead of going around suffering under it.
Or am I mixing up some words? (English isn't my first language.)
Most elites will stop and accept a DNF (Did Not Finish) if they a are really injured, and most fitness/recreational runners get a good sense of when it's the mind and not the body really screaming quit. It's like getting your breath knocked out of you. It's scary as hell the first time, but it's not a heart attack.
There's lots of good, sound research on endurance running:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed
Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance
Life Is a Marathon: A Memoir of Love and Endurance
Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
As an example of how running has impacted, not a CEO, but an international award-winning novelist, short story writer, and essayist see: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.
And, related to the topic in general, see:
The Beauty of Discomfort: How What We Avoid Is What We Need
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life
Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment
I've been on many hikes where it's an all-out mental battle to keep going. Beyond that, there is a physical aspect of pushing through, hour after hour, with little rest and food. It's tough on your joints and energy reserves.
I'd encourage everyone to consider pushing yourself. It's amazing what the human body, even an old one, can do. Don't compete with others. Compete with yourself. See how many amazing things you can do while you still have your body.
Training for endurance events require a level of suffering e.g. when I did the 777 (it's a small list of people who have done it - not as small as the barkley though! - so it's easy for me to prove I've done it if anybody is skeptical), it was both mentally forcing myself to train to run 2 marathons a day, as well as the physical effort/pain (I have terrible feet). Another nightmare was the MdS, 250km in the sahara. Forcing myself to run a half marathon with a 10kg pack in the middle of day (for the heat acclimatization)... wouldn't wish that to my worst enemy.
Training for powerlifting/weightlifting is a different type of suffering (I have medalled in my weight class and age group). You KNOW you can't just dump 10% on top of a PR (whether weight or rep) and "gut-it-out", the way you can gut-it-out an extra 10-20 minutes on a run/cycle/swim. I guess it's like topping out on a certain speed for a certain time, in a run. If you can run 16min 5kms, you know how hard it is to get below that, say sub 15mins. It's not "EASY" to cut your time by 10% in the 5km by just running more mileage. So it requires a different mindset, willingness to analyze, change training etc.
I think both are complements. Of course, if you have only done one and not the other, it's easy to say "you should try endurance running, you'd be surprised", or "you should try to lift heavy weights, you'd be surprised". Most people will never hit that limit, and won't know what it means in terms of the effort required to try to transcend those limits.
Oh, and BTW, I do mountaineering for "fun", because on the one-hand the views you get are amazing, and on the other hand, the preparation required for it is a microcosm of what, IMHO, you need to do to succeed in life - hard work, persistence, long term vision etc. And you get to do it with friends, lol (climbing stairs with a 50lb bag, what fun)
It's really all about if you are pushing yourself or not. If you are playing a fun social game, then yea you won't get tough. But in the same way I've done many day hikes etc that I didn't find particularly challenging at least compared to boxing. Having someone trying to punch you in the face is a fairly stressful experience even in a controlled environment.
Oh, and 2 minute focus pads or kick pads; "...but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.”
I use a Chrome extension to try to get rid of them, but the extension does not work on some popular sites.
Kinfolk (the magazine) is known for its clean aesthetics and lack of ads, so anything else would be antithetical to their brand.
It's a raw realisation that your body was designed to take so much more than what you use it for. There is something really primal about that.
I don't know enought about the science around it but I suspect it will be a combination of hormonal transients plus the _hypnotic_ repetitive motion (it becomes almost near 'sensory deprivation' after a long enough distance).
I've played/tried most of the sports you listed but nothing I tried (expect for maybe swimming) really mimicks the intensity of the running experience.
I can definitely see how that empowerment feeling and insights (plus the runners high) would appeal to C-level people who typically self identify as having high grit and drive.
2. When I was in my 20s, running races, I seldom hit the 2/3 mark without wondering why I was there, and half-promising myself I wouldn't do it again.
3. I don't get the feeling as often as I did in my 20s, but there is a great feeling when you are in condition, fall into a rhythm, and feel as you could run like that all day.
4. It is the perfect sport for a lazy man. You don't need to book a court, find a tennis partner or spotter, drive to the slopes, etc. You just lace up the shoes and head out.
https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a32598733/is-ru...
My favourite parts of that article are the comments - I believe someone is trying to log in by repeatedly typing their password into a comment box.
Also, "if you hurt yourself take a break" is interestingly not always true! Some injuries will basically not improve by resting - patellofemoral pain syndrome for example. For some other injuries, you can still keep going while injured as long as the rate of recovery is greater than the damage you are doing by exercising more. Injuries are not so black and white, and some very painful ones can sometimes be suddenly fixed without taking time off.
Good to know. With COVID shutting down all the gyms I've taken up running to replace my regular workouts, and I'm still learning these things. The difficulty there will be to figure out how to correctly diagnose those injuries.
Many older athletes will tell you to never stop moving. The pain starts when you take a break. If you don't overcome it, you'll never move again.
Oh, wait, you were going with some "running hurts your knees" trope, weren't you? Apologies. But if you're waiting for an athletic endeavor that leaves you perfectly healthy even if you do it wrong, well, enjoy the couch I guess. Or possibly swimming.
To give you more context - in my specific personal case, running would damage my knees more than it would give me any kind of pleasure or added fitness.