I’d like to recommend to you all the following book: Running the Spiritual Path - A Runner’s Guide to Breathing, Meditating, and Exploring the Prayerful Dimension of the Sport, by Roger D. Joslin. You will probably be able to tell by the title whether its something that might interest you but I can tell you that if you do believe your tri and other athletic endeavors are part and parcel of a larger spiritual journey (for me this is really the core of why I do what I do) then odds are you will enjoy this book. It provides an articulate and poetic and inspirational source of much-needed “why-talk” to undergird and put in perspective all the “how-talk” about Aet and LT and BCAAs that all of us love to talk about on this forum and elsewhere . It is very well written and, although the author is an episcopalian priest-in-training, his orientation is decidedly universalist - He draws equally from Christianity, Zen Buddhism, Islam, poetry, and just the experience of everyday life. I myself was not raised in and do not belong to an established religious organization. I think I agree with Armstrong when he said in Every Second Counts something to the effect that he doesn’t believe in any religion that has buildings. But I do strongly believe that mankind alone of all the animals is a spiritual creature - only we sing and cry and ponder death and “the meaning of it all.” I think to ignore this or to lose it in the fast paced world of materialism and routine is to ignore or lose what makes us human and gives meaning to existence. OK, enough of that zen spirit talk, Joslin says it better. So here is a great nugget from his introduction:
All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither. That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified. I Cor. 9:24-27In this letter to the church at Corinth, St. Paul compares the rigors of the Christian life with athletic competition. He speaks of training hard and running hard with an intention to win. Paul was primarily using running as an example illustrating the vigors of spiritual discipline. It is, however, an illustration of how running, itself, can also be a spiritual discipline. The focus, the concentration, the willingness to submit to hardship play a role in the spiritually disciplined life, whether that discipline involves more traditional forms of sacrifice (fasting, simplicity, study, submission, etc.) or the sacrifice required when seeking God through the practice of running meditation.
Here are some of his chapter headings: 1. Intentions and Preparations; 2. Emptying the Mind; 9. The Joy of the Ill-Fitting Shoe; 10. Running in a Pure Land; and 14. Running as Pilgrimage.
And, finally, here are some great quotes Joslin uses as chapter epigraphs and indicate the flavor of his book: Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator and spiritual communion. -Lorraine Moller
When I run, I feel His pleasure. -Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire.
Rapid motion through space elates one. -James Joyce.
The race is nothing but a turning away from all created things and a uniting oneself with that which is uncreated. - The Pseudo-Dionysius.
Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness. - Dostoyevsky.
OK peeps, have a great day and enjoy your next swim, bike or run!!