The Mood of Eternal Running

Can one run forever with Metallica concussing your tympani non-stop? I can’t.

Rather, running forever is a two-stranded braid of an eternal, unchanging, spatial tone and an insistent and subtly-changing fast rhythm. Inside, there is peace and depth. Outside, there is movement and dance.

The endurance run transcends perceived physical limits and expertly draws all the athletic potential out into the sunlight to play. The endurance meditation transcends the bounds of the real and creates new worlds. Between the two, the body unleashes endorphins and proprioceptive pleasures.

Over time, the body adapts to the insistent message that we are serious about running forever. New blood vessels perfuse the muscles. Slow twitching fibers increase in number. Red cells multiply. Support muscles grow. The heart pumps more and more blood with fewer and fewer beats per minute.

Am I running? Or is the Earth rotating under my feet? Have I crossed the Rocky Mountains? Am I reaching the Pacific Ocean? Are these big mysterious blocks appearing in front of me, paving the way to Hokkaido?

Music themes without end and insistent rhythms create the illusion of infinity, the ultimate goal of endurance running.