Here's a picture of what I see most of the time when I run - a trail. It doesn't matter where it is, or how you get to it, but what is important is that there isn't much there, except trees, a few birds and the occasional deer.I presume that fishermen who speak either English or Polish also travel along this trail towards the pond out of shot to the right, judging by the signs telling them to eff off, but I have never seen any, day or night.
It is this lack of civilization that makes this trail so good. Because it gives me a chance to talk to myself. And answer myself, with very few interruptions.
There are a lot of cod psychoanalytical answers to why we run (it is my thinking time, it clears my mind, it defrags my brain...) but the best one I have heard yet was from Anton Krupicka, the semi-naked Colorado-based ultrarunner.
In his blog for Running Times, he hit the nail on the head (for me) and transcended the run-of-the-mill navel-gazing that runners can drift into when he said he listens to himself when he runs. Or, as he puts it lets "anything and everything and nothing bop in and out of my mind without intent". The full post is here.
Krupicka, to those who have never read his well-written blogs, has built himself a reputation as a nomadic, philosophising mountain man who happens to run long distances and, on the odd occasion, drink beer.
What's not to like?
But apart from my admiration for a drinker-runner who likes the outdoors (and who hawks a decent line in shoes), the listening bit struck a chord with me. Because there is hardly a run goes by that an idea, revelation or random thought pops into my head - and more often than not, I am able to debate it, mould it and turn it into something I can use in another part of my life. Of course there is a lot of mindless chatter, but in the slurry of brain-dumping, there is always a nugget of something useful.
And in listening to my own intra-brain babble (it gets less babbly the longer I run) I have learned to be patient with others' scattergun ideas, when in normal social (or social media) circles.
In the sort of world where people demand a platform and a captive audience - let alone one that agrees with them - in the space of a few seconds, it helps to be able to recognise and listen to the important bits.
And, getting back to that picture of the trail, if you are able to filter out the static (either literally, by surrounding yourself with a serene scene as above or psychologically, by screening out the crap) then life is a lot more calm. No matter where you go.
