Running Is My Meditation – Don’t Sit Around, Move Something!

Yesterday I did a 10 mile run. Two days before that a 6.2 mile run.

This morning I ran over the Golden Gate Bridge in the early morning sunrise.
It was utterly gorgeous and I felt such a sense of freedom.
I run approximately 25 miles per week. That’s 100 miles a month at least.
I have run 446 miles this year so far. All my runs have been in the morning.
My best running time is 11am when it’s warm, preferably sunny.
I’m 59 years old.
I am fitter than I have ever been as an adult.
I’m pretty fast for an older guy. I average 9 minutes per mile and my average length of run is 5.1 miles.
My app tells me I’m usually in the top 8% for distance run.

I am motivated for running.
For me it’s physical and spiritual. It’s even a kind of meditation.
It gets me into a zone. It helps me sweat. It enlivens me. It brings a great spaciousness to my mind.
I connect with some deep inspiration when I run.
I feel it enliven my cellular body.
It doesn’t feel like a stretch in a bad way, ever.

But it really hasn’t always been like this. In fact it was the opposite for years and years.
I was the most unfit guy ever during my 20s and 30s, and even my 40s.
It has taken years of persistence and success, and failure, to get to this point.
And still I have to persist. But I found the groove and know the rewards.

And don’t forget:
I have been through chronic illness, on a long journey that lasted about 10 years. Some of that time I ran, but I struggled with exercise. I stayed with it. When the body and nervous system is under par and stressed it’s very hard to get the full benefit of exercise. So you do what you can. I did rebounding to keep the energy flowing. I did yoga for flexibility. I did core strength exercises to build muscle. All of this you can do, adapted to your own state of health.

The bottom line is, you can’t recover or heal or find true vitality without doing something for the body.
If nothing else, walking is great! 5 – 10 miles a day will get things going. Just don’t sit around. It will kill you.
Sleep is so very important, good quality sleep. We go to bed very early and get up very early.
Hydration is very important.
Nutrition is vital.

But of all things I have seen and felt over the years, enthusiasm and motivation are the two most powerful. With those on your side anything is possible.

Anything.

Thanks for reading, see you out there!

Kavi

ps. Any runners out there, connect with me!
SmashRun – https://smashrun.com/kavi.hockaday

 

Interval Training is WOW!

Interval Training is WOW! For me today it was 30 seconds full sprint to exhaustion then 2 minutes real slow jog, 8 times. That’s 20 minutes full on exercise.

Interval training like this has increased my duration running, my core strength, and my attitude to running itself. It is Excellent FUN!

Try it. Don’t forget to warm up properly and warm down. If you don’t know what you are doing seek advice, don’t pull a muscle by being all gung ho about it, it doesn’t work. Strains and sprains are a pain in every way. I’ve had loads because of ineffective stretching and over enthusiasm. So now I’m pretty careful and still I get little injuries here and there.
But it is so worth it…

Persistence..Never give up, it’s never too late – for anything.

Persistence and dedication to the task eventually gets results…

I have been a runner for over 15 years. I’m 54 years old. That means I started running when I was about 40..Before that?

I stopped all physical exercise when I was about 16 years old…and I don’t remember doing ANY until I started running and playing the occasional game of tennis at 40. During my 20’s and 30’s I was seriously out of shape..I would get absolutely shattered by climbing one set of stairs.. I mean I was real bad..

And then when the tide began to turn and I started running wow! I could not run for 30 seconds without feeling as though I was going to die of heart failure..I have simply persisted throughout my illness to gradually maintain and improve fitness, and eventually things changed.
Now I’m a runner, I run maybe 5 times a week and do 6 – 9 k each time and then one 10 k once a week. I do rebounding and some yoga..I keep improving and I just love it, even when I don’t like it..

The reason I’m sharing this is that I see people starting out who get frustrated and give up and I want to say ‘Don’t!’ Just persist slowly slowly and gradually you get there..

See you on the road!