Archive for November, 2020

REFLECTIONS FROM A ’47 ROADSTER

Posted: November 18, 2020 by coachwestbrook in Blog, Daily Runs & Reflections, Uncategorized
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FEBRUARY 10, 2021 (WEDNESDAY)

METEORS IN MY HEAD

I run…every day. At times, I get asked, “What do you think about when you do all that running?”

Good question. I wish I knew the answer. Actually, my answer is usually well thought out and meticulous and backed by science including physiology and psychology. So, my usual response in a very intellectual manner is, “Oh, just all kind of stuff.”

That is actually very close to the hard truth. Upon starting a run, I will go through mental checks as to how I feel compared to the planned mileage and effort. Such “stuff” like footplant, running form, pace, and weather conditions come to mind. Adjustments are made depending on the feedback to those elements of thought. All this usually happens in the first mile to a mile-and- a-half distance.

After that, it’s every thought for itself. It is survival of the fittest…thought-wise. And, it is a hard fought battle for those thoughts to survive.

A great thing about running distance is that it opens the mind. Whatever I was thinking about before the run started seems to become insignificant during the run. It fades and fades, and fades…

Then, as I run into more mileage, BOOM!!! All these fragments of thought invade my head. First, it’s one thing, and an eighth-of-a-mile later, it’s something entirely different. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Just as I think I’ve come upon an idea or a thought to mentally explore…it changes. And, so it goes as the run continues and the miles pass. It may not happen to everyone who runs, but it often happens to me. But, that’s just me.

I continue running with an easy effort in a relaxed stride, and, I’ve got to say it…very slowly. In fact, I seem to be getting slower as I get older. Oh, well.

I run mile after mile with a seemingly open mind with thoughts beginning to invade. They generate quickly and then burn out like a meteor burning out in our atmosphere. These “meteors” shoot through my head bouncing off the inside of my skull. The thoughts are sometimes remembered and expanded. Mostly not. So, the ’47 roadster reflects and usually has only bits and pieces of thoughts such as today’s in my 15+ mile run of which I will sprinkle here.

The thoughts today (or, meteors inside my head) sparked on…

HEADWIND…ONCOMING TRAFFIC…COOL AIR…CASEY…SHOES…FOUND MONEY…RACES… DOGS…CLOUDS…VOL STATE…COKE…GPS WATCH…BACKPACK…GEORGIA COUNTIES RAN…ROAD SHOULDER…RAINBOW… MASK…WEEKLY MILEAGE…BICYCLE…TRUCK BRAKE PADS…TRION CROSS-COUNTRY…NCAA CROSS-COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS…NAIA CROSS-COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS…COVID-19…MOTOR SCOOTER…TELESCOPE…RECORDER…CONVENIENCE STORES…SOUTH GEORGIA…U.S. HIGWAY 411…SOUTH CAROLINA…KAREN JACKSON…WHAT-A- BURGER…LYERLY, GA…ROADSIDE TRASH…NORTHWEST GEORGIA… JONESBORO…DEAN THOMPSON…BOOKS…PACE…SHOULDER PAIN…JANICE… SEASON…RAINBOW AGAIN…SHANE…WENDY AND FAMILY…“TRAIN WRECK”… TURTLES…CHATTANOOGA TRACK CLUB…RESOLUTION CHALLENGE… TRANS AM…REVOLUTION RUNNING…’64 FORD FALCON…COVID-19 VACCINATION…COACHING…GEORGIA COASTAL RUN…CANCER…SPRING… SUMMER…ARFTA…DIRT TOWN…POLITICS…PRESIDENT…SOCIALISM… CONSERVATISM…KENDRA STALLINGS…18-WHEELERS…FRIENDLY DRIVERS… SKUNKS…TRACK & FIELD…EVOLUTION…DEATH…WARADY…NURSES…FLIP BELT…UFO’S…TENNESSEE NIGHT SKY IN VOL STATE…LAZ…STROLLING JIM…GERMAN SHEPHERDS…BJ TIMONER…CROSS-COUNTRY COURSE…JOHN PRICE…JERRY’S…WINTER…WEEKI-WACHEE…CHIROPRACTOR…TRUMAN SMITH…FLEXIBILITY…WEBSITE…JOURNAL…LYNDA WEBBER…HOTS…TOWNS…ANNIE RANDOLPH…PUSH-UPS…IOWA…THAT DAMN DOG…NEW BROOKS GHOST 13s…OLD BROOKS GHOST 12s…OLDER BROOKS GHOST 12s…CTC RACE SCHEDULE…YOUTH RUNNING…TARA TURTLES…RAINBOW’S RESOLUTION CHALLENGE…JOHNNY…DOUG…OLD CARS…TECHNOLOGY…WHY WE DRIVE…GOLF COURSE…CROSS-COUNTRY AWARDS…SLOW RUNNING…JOGGING…CAMERA…WILDLIFE…MOUNT VERNON…WAR MONUMENT…THE OLD ROAD…RIEGEL…BONES IN A TUB…MOONLIGHT DRIVE-IN MOVIES…COACH CHANCE…SMALL TOWNS…DOC HOLLIDAY…MONUMENT VALLEY…CUMBERLAND ISLAND…SPEED PLAY…LONG SLOW DISTANCE…SLOW RUNNERS COMMUNITY… NIETZSCHE…GEORGE SHEEHAN…RUNNER’S WORLD…C&O CANAL TOWPATH…STEVE SMALLING…MONTEAGLE…

AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON LIKE METEORS THROUGH MY HEAD, SOME LODGED IN MEMORY, MOST BURNED OUT, BUT THE RUN CONTINUES.

(Richard Westbrook)

REFLECTIONS FROM A ’47 ROADSTER

Posted: November 14, 2020 by coachwestbrook in Daily Runs & Reflections
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NOVEMBER 13, 2020 (FRIDAY)

In reference to yesterday’s REFLECTIONS FROM A ’47 ROADSTER and with the timeline leading to today (Friday 13, November), it’s “Bash on, regardless.” The injury may be a thing in the past. Today’s 13.41 miles were good. Questions were answered in those 13 miles.

Bash on!

REFLECTIONS FROM A ’47 ROADSTER

Posted: November 13, 2020 by coachwestbrook in Blog, Daily Runs & Reflections
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020 (THURSDAY)

On a cool and slightly wind-swept November day in northwest Georgia, I ventured into my morning run headed for the eastern edge of the town of Trion. As usual, I stopped briefly while crossing the Chattooga River to check on the turtle population. Three turtles were visible, two on the rocks, one treading the water near the middle of the river. After that, I ran through “frog town” and onto the U.S. 27 by-pass and turned north into the wind.

This run was the best I’ve had since October 14, 2020. Then, I injured the intercostal muscles between the ribs in the right side of my back. This was done while moving some large, heavy rubber mats in the back yard. I felt a twinge while doing it but continued anyway. The next morning told me that the continuing was stupid. As Forrest says, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Since the rubber mat fiasco, I’ve been forcing myself to jog at least one mile, sometimes a little more…for the running streak if nothing else.

Today, I was no longer a jogger. I was a runner…or, at least, I felt like it. My stride was longer and faster (but not much faster) and I had no back pain when my left foot struck the ground as it had been in the last 29 days. That was a sure sign of progress from the jogging phase, the result of the injury. So, I ran a little longer. The eight miles plus that ran north of town and re-entered on the old road excited me to look forward to longer runs just as the weather was turning cooler.

Mid-November was now looking good, and December is looking even better. But, I am behind in reaching this year’s mileage goal. I hope I can make it up in order to reach the goal. That will require runs that are quite a bit longer than the present daily average. Maybe I’m now ready to do that. Maybe not.

Tomorrow’s run will let me know a lot more about that.

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“Bash on, regardless.”

Dr. David Livingstone (1813-1873)

BOOK: THE WAY OF THE RUNNER: A Journey into the Fabled World of Japanese Running

Posted: November 5, 2020 by coachwestbrook in Runnin' & Readin', Uncategorized
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AUTHOR: Adharanand Finn
PUBISHER / DATE: Pegasus Books / 2015

REPORT:

Since the glory days in the 1980s of the Japanese runner, Toshihiko Seko, and his extreme training for the marathon, I’ve been a fan of his and was eager to find out more about Japanese distance running. Seko held numerous world records and had a marathon best of 2:08:27 at the Chicago Marathon in 1986. He won the Boston Marathon in 1987 with 2:11:50. From 1978 to 1988, he won 10 major marathons and was second at Boston in 1979. It was evident that distance running in Japan was big, and Japanese distance runners have been running big ever since.

This book gives a good picture of Japanese distance running. It tells us of a way of life in which distance running is a major part of the culture. This is reflected in the country’s biggest sporting event which is the Ekiden, a 135-mile relay which is run annually. It is filled with thousands of professional runners representing corporate teams. It is a major spectator event each year.

The marathon monks do their thing apart from the Ekiden. All they do is run a thousand marthons in a thousand days. This is not a race. It is to find spiritual enlightenment, and they usually run in complete solitude.

The author, Adharanand Finn, is a runner and author who spent six months in the Japanese running culture finding out about the sport and the country. This work tells us of the teamwork, competition, preparation, diet, form, attitude, dedication, racing, youth running, training, and a culture and a way of life.

Finn informs the reader about the intricacies and the mind-meld of running in Japan. He has lived and obviously completely researched the project. His writing reflects humor, wisdom, the art of story telling, and the delving into the psyche of Japanese distance running and its bonding of its runners.

This is a book of which a serious (or not so serious) runner can learn more about his or her own running.

It is an interesting and a well written and enjoyable book.

(Richard Westbrook) (Nov. 5, 2020)