Spirit Flower, get out of here! Another 20 miles? Shish!
I got up at 3 and did my spiritual work. You would think an unemployed person would sleep in a lot more than I do; but so far at least half the time I'm up at 3, and up at 4 for the other half. Runners will do anything to get their run in. At 4:30, I went and ran 10 miles, all running, no walk/jog, 80F and humid. I was in a hurry because I needed to get to Kansas City by 8 am for a fellowship meeting. But, this run felt really good. I was surprised. I’m wondering why things weren’t hurting or stiff or something. The only excitement, sort of, was that on one little loop, there was a big dog laying by the side of the road, panting and gasping as if it was about to die. I decided to turn around and not mess with that dog. You never know what a gasping panting dog is really up to. The next lap, it wasn’t there.
I had some fresh juice for the car trip to KC. I got there in time to go to the coffee shop, buy some produce and get to the meeting on time. Besides the juice and coffee, I also had three pieces of bread and some spirulina/chlorella. That is all I ate until now, after my second run.
I made it back home at 11. Now it was 92F with a breeze, still humid. I decided to go ahead and tackle at least 2 hours of walk/jog, just to get my mind around the idea of running in the heat. I just took water, 2 S-caps and the emergency Gu. I really did well. I thought I should be much more tired or sore or something. I think Mark Z., Battlefield Running Blog http://battlefieldrunning.blogspot.com/, has infected me with his love for heat. The heat really wasn’t bad.
Total for the day: 20 miles
Total for the Ultra-retreat: 222 miles
The past few days I have been running around and around a hilly park. Some ask if that is boring. Routes don’t really matter to me because running is the activity, not site seeing. But running laps is like being in a monastic cell; and I lived in one for 4 years. By restricting the outer distractions, you are better able to go inside the mind. Thus, contemplation expands inward not outwards. The monk learns to go on journeys through the infinite inner but never leave his cell. When I have nothing going on to look at, I am very well focused on my spiritual/ metaphysical work. And you should know that this means I am not using my ego to think about anything. The inner landscape is silent. It is also pure joy, but not in a noisy sort of way.
From the Little Rule of St Romuald:
“Sit in your cell as in paradise;
put the whole world behind you and forget it…
…realize you are in God’s presence;
hold your heart there in wonder…
Empty yourself completely;
Sit waiting, content with God’s gift…
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