Running
I am not a runner.
I loathe running…
and still I run every day.

Thirty minutes, two, three, five miles tops,
I am hardly a distance runner.
It is just a thing I do daily.
I do it to concentrate.
I do it to disconnect.

Yet it is so awfully repetitive
and that repetition bores me to tears,
so after a while I stop,
because it is just too dull.

I run every day and I hate it.
I would much rather play a team sport.
Still I enjoy the solitude.
I like reaching that sweet spot
where I can fully disengage from the physical effort,
ignore my movements,
pay no attention to my breathing,
when the autopilot is on
and from that moment on,
I can channel my energy into meditating
on a specific issue,
head in the clouds, lost in my thoughts,
my mind goes wandering,
I daydream and I brainstorm,
My DMN is active.

Running is monotonous,
but it helps me find new perspectives,
just like in the shower,
prophetic thoughts,
creative epiphanies,
my brain is in an alpha state.

What I hate even more than running
is running at a gym,
running on a treadmill,
makes me feel like a rodent in a pet store.
So I predominantly run outside.
I used to live in Hermosa Beach
and regularly ran on The Strand,
along the Pacific Ocean.
No treadmill can compare to that.

I run with music.
From the reflective contemporary jazz of Pat Metheny,
to the melancholic indie rock of Radiohead,
the hypnotic electronica of Massive Attack
and the intense progressive metal of TesseracT.
When I run, music is my catalyst,
It gets me in that intangible zone
where my brain takes over.

John Schlesinger’s Marathon Man,
one of my favorite films of all times,
an extraordinary thriller with a remarkable cast.
Dustin Hoffman’s character is an aspiring marathon runner.
He hopes to write a thesis that will clear his father’s McCarthy-muddied name.
He routinely runs around Central Park’s Reservoir.
I sometimes visualize him when running,
his endurance, his tenacity, his solitude…

Is it safe?

But the miles they never seem to end
As if you’re in a dream
Not getting anywhere
It seems so futile

This is the equipment I use to run and cycle:
Mizuno Wave Sayonara 3
Crew Bike Co. District Fixed Gear
Apple iPhone SE
Quad Lock® Sports Armband and Bike Mount Kit
Jaybird X2
Garmin fēnix® 3 Sapphire
Strava