It is clear to me that running is in our human cells. It is part of our biology, of our evolutionary imagination. We are part of something much greater than ourselves when we get out of the door and start out down the road…
Why a Run is Never “Just a Run”
Although we run for fitness, many runners keep running for other personal reasons. Running can be an entry to deeper thinking, or meditation, or appreciation of nature.
Tarmac Meditations #7 — Note to a Friend on His Long Sought and Now Imminent 24hr Run
Knowing that when a friend is running out beyond his comfort zone, we are together wherever else we may be. It is always one step, then another — a journey from where we were to wherever we are going that enriches all of us.
Of Toenails and Teenage Wisdom
A runner’s foot makes the ultimate sacrifice in the name of health and fitness.
Tarmac Meditations #6 – Hard Rain, Almost Hail
A runner who isn’t running contemplates what the day will hold and feels an urge to run with the ghosts of his past.
Tarmac Meditations #5 – The Other Side of Love
A runner on the edge of winter, ponders the other side of love, and finds clarity “just a little futha” down the road.
Tarmac Meditations #4 – On Not Running One Day at a Time
A runner thinks about a friend who may be dying, and gains insight from the meditative practice of putting one foot in front of another.
Tarmac Meditations #3 – Morning Song
Out running in the early morning, Michael’s feet move forward as his mind moves back.
Tarmac Meditations #2 – Of Fog and a River
A quiet early morning run. A runner’s meditations. A river. A moment slipping past, almost uncaught.
Tarmac Meditations #1 – On Not Running in the Dark and Cold
“When I run,” writes Michael, “I put in a lot of time thinking about how things are going. Sometimes I don’t think about time and distance. When I get home I have taken to writing some of it down.”