Running for a purpose
I have not run for something like three weeks. Before that I was racing a 5k each weekend, at least. I have played some casual football, but nothing as much as I know that I should be doing.
My ambition was to begin to run a little further each Sunday until I was running for an hour each weekend. That has not happened.
For one, I have simply not built that into my lifestyle. I finish work, and simply want to return home to my hobbies and my food and the work I have to do. This isn't a running blog. It's a running and teaching blog. I do wonder, sometimes, how much the work I do benefits the students. That is, whether the limited time I spend working is always as efficient as it could be. For example, giving examples of homework and the like.
Of course, I cannot tell. That is the nature of a job with any kind of autonomy. However, I can reflect on what seems useful, and on what doesn't seem useful. I can't remember, for example, the last time I marked an essay quickly. Two years ago, I could, and I do. This time? Less so. Much less so.
I need to plan, and mark, massively. I have had a lull in my training, and a lull in the speed of my marking. Both need to be ramped up, now.
There is not a problem, I think, in taking a break from work, and a lull from work. People are not made of metal, and knowing the signs of how much you can give is as important as giving everything. In army there are many stories of how soldiers run 15 miles, and as they reach the finishing trucks, they are dismayed to see them pull away. This happens repeatedly. The purpose of this is to teach the soldiers to always leave something in the tank, so to speak.
I watched a few days ago a film called Gattaca. It was wonderful, as I was told it would be. In case you haven't seen it, it is a sci-fi film where an elite of society forms based on gene mapping technology. This means that (like our current class system) there are certain jobs and experiences reserved for those who can afford them. One man, though, dreams of being an astronought. He dreams of this from a young age.
The film tracks his elaborate and dedicated plans to achieve this goal. As a spoiler (so skip on if necessary!) he competes with his older brother (who has better genes) in several sea races where they swim out from the coast as far as they dare. Eventually the younger, less able brother is able to beat the superior older brother. How is able to do this? By 'not leaving anything less to get back.'
To achieve the dreams that we want, how much do we have to not leave anything back? When we train, how much do we train to get to that point? When we (I) train to the point where the pain is substantial, how much does that make me not want to run again for a while? And how many people (like my mum, for example) are able to foster and have a dream or ambition to follow?
I must admit that my dreams are hazy. I do not have grand ambitions, although I do feel capable. It is in this mindset that I say this: that it is in my work and my running that I learn a little bit more about myself, and my inadequacies and my strengths. The work I do matters, yes, but it is more how I do it that matters. Or so I could keep telling my kids.
I think that I need to begin to head to the gym. Although I have these ambitions to run for a long time outside by the beach, it simply isn't happening. There is something utterly disheartening about running out of juice miles from home and walking back. It feels like wasted time headed back.
Speaking of wasted time, there is something, too, in the feeling that I could have many weeks of space and I still wouldn't want to start certain tasks. Action is sound, and the right time for action is on a roll with other action. The ability to switch from action to relaxation is something that for years I have wondered about. It is something that I have yet to really get.
So, walking much today. Perhaps gym tomorrow. But not HiiT. Long 30-45 minutes. When I used to lodge, I used to have to leave every day at 12pm and return at 2pm or so in order for my car to avoid being ticketed. It meant that I would go to the gym every day at that time. That is a worthwhile habit, I should say.
My ambition was to begin to run a little further each Sunday until I was running for an hour each weekend. That has not happened.
For one, I have simply not built that into my lifestyle. I finish work, and simply want to return home to my hobbies and my food and the work I have to do. This isn't a running blog. It's a running and teaching blog. I do wonder, sometimes, how much the work I do benefits the students. That is, whether the limited time I spend working is always as efficient as it could be. For example, giving examples of homework and the like.
Of course, I cannot tell. That is the nature of a job with any kind of autonomy. However, I can reflect on what seems useful, and on what doesn't seem useful. I can't remember, for example, the last time I marked an essay quickly. Two years ago, I could, and I do. This time? Less so. Much less so.
I need to plan, and mark, massively. I have had a lull in my training, and a lull in the speed of my marking. Both need to be ramped up, now.
There is not a problem, I think, in taking a break from work, and a lull from work. People are not made of metal, and knowing the signs of how much you can give is as important as giving everything. In army there are many stories of how soldiers run 15 miles, and as they reach the finishing trucks, they are dismayed to see them pull away. This happens repeatedly. The purpose of this is to teach the soldiers to always leave something in the tank, so to speak.
I watched a few days ago a film called Gattaca. It was wonderful, as I was told it would be. In case you haven't seen it, it is a sci-fi film where an elite of society forms based on gene mapping technology. This means that (like our current class system) there are certain jobs and experiences reserved for those who can afford them. One man, though, dreams of being an astronought. He dreams of this from a young age.
The film tracks his elaborate and dedicated plans to achieve this goal. As a spoiler (so skip on if necessary!) he competes with his older brother (who has better genes) in several sea races where they swim out from the coast as far as they dare. Eventually the younger, less able brother is able to beat the superior older brother. How is able to do this? By 'not leaving anything less to get back.'
To achieve the dreams that we want, how much do we have to not leave anything back? When we train, how much do we train to get to that point? When we (I) train to the point where the pain is substantial, how much does that make me not want to run again for a while? And how many people (like my mum, for example) are able to foster and have a dream or ambition to follow?
I must admit that my dreams are hazy. I do not have grand ambitions, although I do feel capable. It is in this mindset that I say this: that it is in my work and my running that I learn a little bit more about myself, and my inadequacies and my strengths. The work I do matters, yes, but it is more how I do it that matters. Or so I could keep telling my kids.
I think that I need to begin to head to the gym. Although I have these ambitions to run for a long time outside by the beach, it simply isn't happening. There is something utterly disheartening about running out of juice miles from home and walking back. It feels like wasted time headed back.
Speaking of wasted time, there is something, too, in the feeling that I could have many weeks of space and I still wouldn't want to start certain tasks. Action is sound, and the right time for action is on a roll with other action. The ability to switch from action to relaxation is something that for years I have wondered about. It is something that I have yet to really get.
So, walking much today. Perhaps gym tomorrow. But not HiiT. Long 30-45 minutes. When I used to lodge, I used to have to leave every day at 12pm and return at 2pm or so in order for my car to avoid being ticketed. It meant that I would go to the gym every day at that time. That is a worthwhile habit, I should say.
posted by A teacher at
02:53
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