Moving Forward

I'm starting to think that I might ultimately be more suited to running ultras than marathons or half-marathons, although I have a lot more work to do to build the stamina to run the latter two. I like the relentless, slow run. There's a Buddha-nature to that kind of running that requires only that you smash your connection to a timer and keep pressing forward. When I do this, I feel like I'm more of everything else than just a runner focused on time.

In his article, "The Long Training Run," Gary Dudney talks about how ultra training is not for the anal-retentive who care about pacing:

Time spent on your feet, not miles covered, is what is important, at least, if your goal is to just finish your first ultra. Let the distance covered and your pace work themselves out.

Right now, I'm most comfortable doing weekend runs of 90 minutes-2-hours but don't like to plan how long I'm going to run. For me, running this way is exactly a matter of pressing relentlessly forward, and I'm reluctant to want to get anal about it. There's a minimalistic elegance in doing this, I realize -- and perhaps that's why I do it -- but I'm hoping also that I'm doing it for a more spiritual reason.

I know that Buddha-nature is within and without, but it's so hard to find.

From Rilke:

The deep parts of my life pour onward,
as if the river shores were opening out.
It seems that things are more like me now,
That I can see farther into paintings.
I feel closer to what language can't reach.