Mea Vita: Carpe Diem: running

Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Sri Chinmoy Running Club

It's been awhile since I've had my heart rate above 200.

Last Saturday, I noticed about a dozen people running by my home. It wasn't a race; rather, it was a running club. It turns out this little running club has been meeting at the park, a block from where I live, for decades. And, somehow, after living here for years, I've never noticed them before.

This morning, I decided to join them. There was a couple in their 80s who organized this small gathering of ten. The husband ran the course with us while his wife wrote down our names and finish times.

Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy Peace Garden

I quickly discovered this was a Sri Chinmoy running club and most of the runners were students of his teachings. The age range was from the mid-40s to nearly 90 years old.

After our workout we had a small awards ceremony around a statue of Sri Chinmoy that began with us reciting My Morning Running Prayer. Following the short prayer the run times were announced and each person received some food and a sports drink. All this for ten people.

I'll be back. It's too easy, especially since we run right by my home.

Monday, June 4, 2018

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Fun

Yesterday, I had a little fun at the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon with this video trick I saw a few years ago. This technique simply required someone to follow me as I walked backward while others walked and ran by me. A quick import into iMovie on my desktop, followed by choosing the rewind effect, produced the following video.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Medio Maraton y Ultramaraton 57K in Mexico

This was one dirty forest.

As I descended from the mountain top into the depths of the ashes that had once been a scenic forest it seemed that hell had been here and moved on. It wasn't possible to go up and down the mountains without grabbing onto the dead trees wrapped in a bark of soot. Wearing a white shirt was a poor choice of colors for me. I mean, seriously, who wears white after Labor Day?

The beautiful forest that the trail took us through had been torched by wildfire, last month, leaving dirt and dusty ash with charred bark on the trees. It took two showers for me to get clean.

Don't let that smile fool you. It's a facade.

This was one of the most grueling races I've done in terms of the trail. The mountains were so steep that going down them at any pace was a challenge and walking up was at a slow crawl that was nearly unbearable. It became my own personal Vietnam.

If I stopped to take a breather, while feeling sorry for myself, the vultures would start circling (jk).

I don't know if I'll do this race again, but it was a memorable one, especially with people cheering me on in a domestic language that was foreign to me.

Dirt, dust, and ash.