Run With Mu

Okay, so we’ve been discussing a running rediscovery program called (for lack of anything better at the moment) “Run With Mu.” It’s rough, a work in progress, but it’s really more food for thought/practice than a hard-wired training program … a Zen inquiry, if you will.

What is this “running,” anyway? That’s what we’re going to try to rediscover.

Just to catch up the morbidly curious newcomers, we’ve talked about the why and the who, and for the first week of practice we made a vow not to race for six months, sat and stared at a wall, accented that sitting with a little yoga, and didn’t do a single lick of running. So far, so good. But we’ve only just begun to do nothing. Yes, we’ve probably annoyed you. Now we’re going to embarrass you.

It’s week 2 of our practice, and immediately following your first meditation session for this week, put on your running clothes. Finally! But wait a minute, don’t just grab them out of the drawer, pull them on and dash out the door. Not just yet.

In his book Running: The Spiritual Path, Episcopal seminarian and marathoner Roger Joslin talks about putting on our running clothes as if they were priestly vestments. That sounds solemn, but I don’t think solemnity was what Joslin was after. Solemnity has nothing important to do with real spirituality, anyway, and it has less than nothing to do with running. What Joslin is talking about is more the idea of approaching running mindfully. When we can be mindful without being self-conscious about it, every experience can be truly holy, in the purest sense of that word: “exalted or worthy of complete devotion,” according to my dictionary.

“Running is my church,” a friend once said simply. And going to church begins before we ever take a step toward the sanctuary, with choosing what to wear.

How to unwrap running

Start by remembering that running is a gift, something you can enter into fully using only a t-shirt, shorts, socks, and a pair of shoes, and stepping just outside your front door. How many of our daily activities are that uncomplicated and free? No car, no Crackberry, no meeting to discuss where to run or how fast to go, no specific place you have to be at a certain time. Whenever you decide to go for a run, you have just re-gifted yourself with a wonderful present. Take a little time to enjoy unwrapping it first.

Slowly open the drawer or closet where your running clothes are stashed. Some people I know don’t like the artificial high-tech materials many running shirts and shorts are made with, and run only in cotton. I like the special lightweight fabrics. Putting them on after a full day of wearing much heavier, more restrictive clothing, I take a moment to enjoy their lightness, their smoothness. Like my black pajama pants and t-shirt help me prepare for meditation, my running clothes help me enter more fully into the realm of running. Just slipping one of my running shirts over my head and feeling it slide down my torso brings me out of the heaviness of work and into a lighter, more breathable realm.

Why am I getting somewhat uncomfortably sensual about a t-shirt and a pair of shorts? We’re not trying to make a religion out of putting on your running clothes, or of running. But for many weeks, months, or even years, you’ve probably not given a lot of awareness to what you wear to run in – and by extension, you’re probably not bringing a whole lot of awareness to what you do after you’re dressed and push your way out the door, either.

Taking time with each activity of your running, being fully present with something as small as pulling on a pair of shorts and tying that double knot in your shoes … this helps you to realize each detail of running, however small, as something special. Think of the millions of people who aren’t able to run for one reason or another. Think of the millions who could never even think of affording a $30 pair of shorts or $100 pair of shoes just for running, much less the travel expenses to fly to another city or state park just to run a marathon. You’re fortunate to be able to run at all, and you’re also perhaps fortunate to have the means to pay for things that make your running a little more comfortable or interesting.

And If you want to say a short prayer or gatha of gratitude as you get dressed, there’s certainly no harm in that. Here’s a Buddhist-inspired gatha for getting dressed before running:

Putting on my running clothes,
I feel their lightness.
As I walk outside,
I vow to run with a light heart.

Make up something similar following the spiritual practice of your choice, if you wish. Or just say, “Wow, this is awesome. I’m pretty lucky.” That’s okay, too.

One final thing: leave the iPod, stopwatch and Garmin in the drawer. Today, we’re not going to need them. Actually, we’re not going to be using any of them for quite awhile — and while the “why” of this may already be evident even at this early stage, I’ll discuss it a little more later.

All right, now we’re finally dressed, and we’re going to walk outside. But we’re not going to run. Nope, sorry. Not yet …

Enjoy your weekend.