Running Samadhi

Today, I decided to break with the familiar trails and to go on a new running adventure. I was sure glad I did! It turned out to be my longest run yet (28K) on some of the most beautiful trails I have had the pleasure to experience.  I usually find my best runs proceed from a good 10-15 minute warm up so I used that time to get close to the area I wanted to explore.

Once I started on the trails, I was happy to have the noise of passing cars long behind me. Best of all it was replaced with the sounds of the forest: they were all encompassing. I had been here twice before but only for a small part of the trail. The trails are accessed from the East side of Bronte Creek Provincial Part off of Upper Middle Road and stretch all the way up to Dundas Street. The exhaust from the cars on Bronte Road was pleasantly replaced with the smell of the forest air.

As I am running in a 5K race for clean air in two days, I thought it quite fitting to be in some of the “cleanest” air found in Oakville. The race is to help support the fight against an asinine location for a 975 megawatt proposed power plant located in the midst of many schools, residential houses and business.

Clearly, a reasonable person must at least consider the possibility that something corrupt is going on here based on the choice of location and the rush to get it done. Did you know our Ontario Liberal government provides no setbacks for building large scale natural power plants but for a wind turbine they have restrictions? Think of the insanity of that and then consider that our Liberal government is allowing for a plant to be built a mere 320 meters away from a school.

It pains me to say this, but due to the proximity of the plant to so many schools, innocent children may die if there is an accident of a similar nature to the one recently in Middletown, Connecticut (which killed 5 people). Will that be Dalton McGuinty’s legacy?

A few months back, I asked several Liberal MPPs to tell me what the Liberal party’s perspective was on how close a natural gas power plant had to be to a school for it to become too dangerous for them to allow it to proceed. I was unable to get a real answer — big surprise! One long time friend and business associate with whom I had supported in a past campaign spewed the rhetoric about how we all need power and there was no other good option. Give me a break! As I tried to get any kind of a real meaningful answer, I was only able to find out that there is no law on the books to stop a plant from being built right next to a daycare. What a shocker!

Thank you Kevin Flynn – MPP for Oakville, Doug MacKenzie, everyone at C4CA and all Oakville / Mississauga residents who are speaking up. By putting people before power, money and greed, your legacy should be one that is admired. Thankfully, this may not happen to any other community in Ontario if Kevin Flynn’s bill to prevent power plants from being built within 1.5 kilometers of sensitive areas like day cares and schools is a passed. I bet his push against the plant made no friends within the Liberal party, but perhaps there may be a happy ending with more and more people recognizing how crazy this decision was. I would imagine it would come as no surprise the people who stand to make a lot of money from the plant being built (TransCanada and Ford) apparently are pushing as hard as they can to get it done.

This was one of the many thoughts that led me to decide on this route today to reconnect with a saner world where power plants are not being built “steps away” from young children.

Part of what makes trail running so enjoyable is how it gives the individual the opportunity to experience the natural world in a very intimate manner. As I was making my way along the winding trail, the sun was being filtered through the bright glowing leaves of birch, pine and maple trees. Everything was glowing.

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Bronte Creek Provincial Park, C4CA, Clean Air, Forest, Mind, Mindfulness, Power Plant, Wildlife

What a beautiful day for a race. The weather could not have been much better for the 7:30 am start on May 16, 2010. The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze in the air, and as I arrived at 6:45am there was still a chill in the air. The energy in the air was electric.

I was unable to locate any of my running friends after getting ready for the race, so I decided to position myself near a pace bunny with my original goal time in range. I cautiously approached this race, as I had no idea if I was going to even finish after training for several months but was quite excited to be part of the almost 7000 people preparing for the start.

A few days before, I was seriously concerned I would not be able to run this race as I was sporting a knee problem which bothered me in different areas for almost a month now. After running the Mississauga half trial about a month ago, I took part in a run a few days later which caused my right knee to tighten up quite significantly.  To make a long story short, I ended up aggravating my troubled knee during my speed training which led to IT band issues.  This issue started 2 weeks before the race and seemed to be lingering and impacting my joy when running. A week before, I ran for only 20 minutes before it tightened up enough to know I needed to walk home. What a bummer to approach such a beautiful course with that on my mind! I cut down my running and only maintained my spinning classes to keep my cardio up for the final week.

I had some A.R.T. on Friday morning on the area where the IT band meets the knee (only two days before the race).  This led me to feel a sharp pinch in my right knee as I walked towards the end of the day and it even stretched into Saturday. Suffice to say this was a major concern.  I only hoped that there was enough time to let it settle as the area where I had the problem with was finally diagnosed, treated and on the way to recovery. I went for a successful, but brief, 25 minute test run on Saturday night to see if I should even bother going to the starting line. It really felt good to be running again, and I was happy to be wearing a new pair of Adidas Adizero Boston running shoes so I could test them out.

So as I approached my starting point amid thousands of people, my race focus switched from hitting my original goal of a 100 minute finish to running in a way that would allow me to finish the race. The gun that signaled the start of the race was startling but I was ready to run.  To follow the review, I have created a map of the course based on the data from by GPS for anyone interested in seeing the full map. 

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1/2 Marathon, Active Release Techniques, Adidas PMX 680, Adizero Boston, Celebrate Life, Mississauga

As I have been training for the Mississauga Half Marathon, I have enjoyed the chance to take part in a few smaller races to keep things interesting.

10 Mile Good Friday Road Race – April 2, 2010

I ran in the 10 mile Good Friday Road Race in Burlington on April 2, 2010. This was a really nice day for the run! I had a really enjoyable experience and was able to share this with my family and a running friend. It was sunny and warm for this time of the year. Suffice to say I could not have asked for better weather.

One of my most enjoyable moments on this path was watching a family member take part in a shorter race and helping to cheer her on and provide guidance. Before I knew it, I was on the course enjoying the day with little knowledge about the race’s challenges. It turned out to be a two loop 5 mile course which had a few hills decent hills.

I finished the race strong and worked to maintain my running form throughout the race. It was nice to return to the race experience with my energy back which was absent for a good part of the 2010 chilly half marathon.

I remember there was one part on the course were I was running down a lane with trees on both sides in a row and the sun was reflecting in a really beautiful way on the land quickly passing by. It was really serene and a good moment of running samadhi.

10K Mercedes Benz Race – April 25, 2010

The weather was not as nice for the Mercedes Benz 10K race on April 25, 2010 in Oakville. It rained for the majority of the event so most of the festivities took place in the arena. The temperature was almost perfect once I got running as it helped easily manage the heat buildup over the 10k run. I very much enjoyed the run and while running the weather did really not pose an issue. I focused on maintaining a 4:30 pace for the entire course which posed some challenges while hitting a strong head wind while running on the Lakeshore back to Appleby College.

Today, I finished my last half marathon simulation till the Mississauga Half Marathon being held in two weeks. The hardest part of the training schedule is now mostly over and the next two weeks I plan on having some really fun runs before the race day.

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10K Mercedes Benz Race, Good Friday Road Race

UPDATE:  Please see my race review of the actual 2010 Mississauga Half Marathon held on May 16, 2010

I started the run at around 8:30am despite efforts to start at 7:30am like the actual race time. It was a windy day with the temperature hovering between 5-10′C.  Event though it was cold and windy, I decided to wear shorts and a running t-shirt which turned out to be the perfect gear for my run. I found that at the pace I was running, I was barely sweating the entire time running. At the start, I was a bit cold when waiting for the GPS to find the course starting line so I was very thankful for the early morning sunshine peeking through the clouds to get things started.

I created a map for the trial Mississauga 1/2 marathon run to follow a course on my watch but my gps never was able to sync enough to get me to the starting point of the course. What an annoyance and I had to run without the map. Luckily, this is a very easy course to follow.  I made the classic mistake of not turning my gps watch on early and with all the buildings around the starting line it seemed to make a difference.  I will certainly not make this mistake on race day.

The race starts out on the east side of Square One just south of the 403 highway at Hurontario Street and ends near the lake in Port Credit. The path starts down a small road and connects to Burnhamthorpe Road East. From that point the path is slightly downhill almost the entire way to Mississauga road crossing two bridges including some quite beautiful panoramic views of the credit valley.

As trail running is my true passion, I found myself being pulled to abandon the planned route and investigate some of the clearly spectacular running routes within this valley. Despite longing for the trails, I continued onwards to Mississauga Road.  For the first part of the run to Mississauga road it is either downhill or flat with only one small incline.

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1/2 Marathon, Mississauga

MichaelMaggs Edit by Richard Bartz

While I was preparing for my next race, I was researching the theory I have about my stiffer shoes causing issues with my running style. I was finding the shoes meant to help with a flat foot were actually impacting the way I was able to run in a negative manner.

I became very used to the feeling of the arch as it helps to transfer energy in the process of running in my softer shoes and originally in shoes not designed for running. The irony of the situation is that the shoes designed for running for my foot type seem to be the wrong type of shoe to use.

During running the arch has been shown to store and release approximately 17% of the energy created during each impact of the foot (“The spring in the arch of the human foot.” by Ker Et. Al Nature 325: 147-149, 1987). The arch functions much like a spring. That is a very interesting analogy to consider as this could be one additional point of focus for increasing running efficiency.

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Arch, Barefoot Running, Efficient Running, Springs, Vibram fivefingers

As the days are getting longer, I am now enjoying running in the daylight again. Many of my training runs take place in the early evening and for the winter this has meant in darkness. One of the experiences I have missed over the past four months is to enjoy the sunset while running.

As I was running a few days ago, I recognized how much my love for running sprang from the experiences I had in my early evening runs last summer. The vibrant and clarity the sun’s rays highlights the beauty of the world present during running. As often is the case when the sun starts to set, it provides illumination in spots based on how it filters through the trees and bushes.

By appreciating the way the light cast onto the trees, grass and  bushes, the mindset that naturally arises set the stage for a very satisfying run. The process I started was to simply mentally note the clarity of the land — the glowing land — all around me. By focusing on a general area of the path in the direction I was running I was able to appreciate it for what it is. I gently allowed the inner dialog to subside and to simply be in the present moment. This provided a great place from which to practice running samadhi.

It was so very nice to experience the glowing world as I enjoyed my weekly easy run.I was able to continue to test some of the running techniques I have used as once the space for mindful running is opened it is quite easy to gently move the focus to the motion of running after the sun has set. Over this past weekend I completed a 1/2 marathon simulation of 6 miles easy, 5 miles fast and 2 miles easy. At the end of the run I almost matched my previous Chilly 1/5 Marathon race time with a fraction of the effort required.  My new schedule is proceeding well and I am enjoying the structured intervals I have added to my training.

Recently, I was quite interested to see video of Haille Gebrselassie that shows how his hips do not drop when running (see the analysis at around the 2:00 point in the video).  As I have been slowly returning back to the way I ran when I first started I found this video to be quite interesting indeed: I am now trying to contact the the ground directly underneath my body on the front of the foot. In the video there is one point where the commentator points out that Haille’s hips do not drop when he runs. In the last two weeks I have been experimenting with how this impacts overall efficiency of my running and I am quite happy with the results so far.  It seems to really make a difference when running with a level pelvis but it clearly requires strong abdominal oblique muscles . The goal I have set for myself for the Mississauga 1/2 Marathon coming up in just under 2 months is to be able to run a 1/2 Marathon in this style of running by turning over my feet at a faster cadence so the actual force of the body is no longer striking the ground as hard while maintaining a level pelvis. This style makes for some very quiet running.

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Efficient Running, Haille Gebrselassie, Mindfulness, Overpronation, Quiet Running, Running Shoes, Sunset, Vibram fivefingers

Since the Chilly 1/2 marathon race, I have been working to develop a good schedule to train for the next few months to get ready for the Mississauga 1/2 marathon. I have found the race experience is quite different from running alone on my preferred surface — a quiet trail in the woods. The steps taken to be able to run a race well are quite different from the stillness of running alone.

In addition, the challenges faced when running in a race are not always presented in the basic training.  So I have decided to make the race day one more training challenge and one additional part of my desire to be a better runner. To help develop this part of running, I am taking part in a few shorter races.  I have also ordered some new shoes that purport to make the experience of running more mindful and in tune with my body. I will report on these in a later blog based on my experiences testing them out.

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Mindfullness, Race Training

Part of what makes running so much fun is that it provides unexpected challenges and from that learning opportunities which stretch far beyond the field of running. On the Burlington Chilly 1/2  marathon race held on March 7th, 2010, the weather and conditions could not have been better for this time of year.

The clouds started to thin out as the race time approached and the energy of the runners waiting for the race to start was infectious. Despite efforts with Oregano Oil and other means to ward off the seemingly inevitable chest cold impacted my race day! I took a 12 hour decongestant 14 hours before race time to at least give me a running start and in the morning I felt as though it might be gone. Wishful thinking I suppose. I practiced positive thinking to the point of not being willing to admit to myself what I was fighting for 2 days was not gone. I felt so good at race time that I decided to aim for a sub 1:50 time.

I have previously met this pace in similar runs with active effort but little discomfort for me. As this is my first 1/2 marathon race, this seemed a good starting point allowing for plenty of improvement going forward while still challenging me at my current fitness level. It was such a beautiful day that it seemed a perfect way to welcome the onset of spring; retuning to the trails with no snow/ice, shorts and t-shirts,  sunshine, and life beginning anew.

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1/2 Marathon, Burlington, Chest Cold, Hal Higdon, Ontario

As I prepare to run in the Chilly 1/2 marathon tomorrow, I have been enjoying a period of a bit more rest to ensure I am fully ready for the race. The weather could not be better for this time of year with the forecast expected to be a high of 9′C and sunny tomorrow. During this week of maintenance running, I was thinking about how my mood has a big impact on the way I experience a run.

If I am in a bad mood, the running typically seems more laboured and requires additional focus and energy to maintain a set pace. Conversely, if I am in a good mood, the running is usually relatively easy and often feels effortless. Part of the reasoning for such a discrepancy seems to be how a particular mood filters how the experience is received. In simple terms it is like having many different shades of sunglasses, each with its own ability to colour the experience in a negative or positive light.

When I start out for a run on a cold day, sometimes I find that the feeling of the cold is not welcomed. When this happens, the cold is seen as a negative stimulus. Conversely, if the same cold is embraced and welcomed then it can be quite a positive experience. It is becoming clear how predisposed we really are to seeing the world though our filters. When the experience is not welcomed, which often happens when one is in a bad mood, it make the experience less likely to be one which is positive. If the experience is embraced fully, it can become quite positive.

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Anchors, Mindfulness