I NEED MOTIVATION! So I ordered a magazine

I subscribed today to Runner's World, a magazine I gave up on several years ago because they kept publishing the same stories and giving the same advice over and over and over.... Really, how much is there to say about running? You either do it or not. There is no Nickel Defense or Triangle Offense. There is no right or wrong club, and there are no pawns and bishops.

Uhhh... another reason to subscribe?

You put one foot in front of the other. Repeat.

Why the change of heart? Two reasons:

1. As I continue to, er, train for the Portland Marathon, I find my motivation ebbing and procrastination flowing. I'm doing this one alone: no training partners, no friends nor running clubs... sheesh, even my wife will not join me. So while I should have already run 12 miles for my long run, I find that I've not gone further than 8 miles, which I did several weeks ago. I need focus. I need direction.

Reading the articles, features, advice, etc., puts me in a running frame of mind. Strangely, I find the prose and photos of running motivating. I guess it is kind of like watching golf or tennis on television: when I see it, I want to play it.

2. Go figure, there's some new stuff here. New in the sense that a seasoned runner will learn more about new studies and methods on running performance. There are recipes for those who want low fat or high energy meals to boost their training.

I first picked up Runner's World years ago to help walk me through the process of training for a marathon. When I pretty much got that part down (and presently ignoring all that I learned), the magazine - or any others like it - were of no use.

Alas, the publishers at Runner's World know that there are people like me who do not care to qualify for the Olympics and who have already run a marathon or two.

So the magazine now reveals to me ways to understand and treat the many injuries my older body suffers, how to eat better, and tips on training and equipment.

So you see, this damn rag has inspired me once again. Hopefully it will help me figure out a way to cram for my marathon training for a race that is merely 2 months away. (Runner's World, by the way, would most likely tell me not do this).

The Doctors: What's your BMI, and why should you care?

I have always disregarded Body Mass Index (BMI) as a false, superficial metric. Take my current BMI for example: According to the Centers for Disease Control, I am overweight.

I wouldn't say I look like a triathlete, but I certainly am not fat. And surely there is a difference between what is "fat" and what is "overweight." The CDC explains why BMI is used and how it is calculated, but they don't really explain why this particular metric is an indicator of obesity.

An article from today's USA Today attempts to explain (The Doctors: What's your BMI, and why should you care?). Fortunately, this article admits that the BMI does not take into account age, muscle, and other body dimensions.



Me, in the eyes of the federal government

Still, I'm unsatisfied. I say, BMI... WTF?!

I run, eat fairly healthy, moderate my intake of toxins and other putrefaction, but still the CDC will call me a fatso. And the BMI they recommend for someone of my height is a weight I haven't hefted since early high school.

Maybe that's the point. Maybe the CDC is trying to convey in their motherly kind of way that we are a nation of fatsos. Instead of directly shattering our self image, the BMI is the federal government's way of saying, "Why can't you be more like your friend Adonis? You know, the one who respects his mother."

So, despite my disdain for artificial measurements of health and wellness, I will attempt to lower my BMI. Can I lose 13 pounds - because I am not going one pound lower than 184 (a weight I haven't seen since I was a lanky high school sophomore)?

Portlandia has now become part of my #marathontraining regime

Jaded, bored... alive!

To fully prepare for the Portland Marathon, I have introduced a program of steady Portlandia viewing. Like any new training regimen, I begin at the beginning with season 1.

It is not yet clear to me how this show will improve my marathon performance, but already I feel more sensitive and in touch with the world around me - at least until I am not, which will probably be about 10:30a this morning.

One thing is for sure, The Dream of the 90s is Alive in Portland has become my new favorite running tune.

Oregon to Vote on Pot Legalization - impact on #portlandmarathon?

Post-race snack, or whatever, dude.

Oregonians will go to the polls this November to decide yet again whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana - which means that by Portland Marathon race day exactly one month before election day, Portland will have reached a fever pitch - or mellow contentedness - of political frenzy - or sleepy indifference.

Curious to know that if the race will now become a "Run to the Border" and if post-race snacks will consist of pizza and Taco Bell handed out by jaded college students.

Back at it, in a manner of speaking (#portlandmarathon)

Greetings! It has been a solid year since my last post. Admit it, you noticed.

So my plan is to run the Portland Marathon in October 2014. This will be race #9 of my "10 Marathons to run before I die" list (assuming none of the 9 kill me before 10).

To recap:

1. Marine Corps (didn't die) 
2. New York City (survived)
3. Mayor's Midnight Sun, Anchorage, AK (made it)
4. Governor's Cup, Helena, MT (not dead yet)
5. Atlanta (beat a 70+ yo barefooted man running in blue jeans... barely)
6. Chicago (nipples died, I survived)
7. Houston (feet died, I survived)
8. Rouge Orleans Ultra Relay (in which our hero ate king cake and drank beer on a 126.2 mile journey from Baton Rouge to New Orleans... and did not perish)
9. Portland, I am hoping
10. Boston through the fundraising back door because I have no desire to actually qualify, or Antarctica, which is really expensive and sometimes unreliable. Could you imagine not making it to shore and running 26.2 miles around the deck of a ship? I would commit acts of piracy and mutiny and other scurrilous seagoing offenses.

I chose Portland for two reasons only:

A. I never run the same race twice - not being snooty. Running is such a mind game that I can't allow boring terrain mess with my head,

B. I have never been to Oregon. Shallow as it may seem, my other buck list besides marathons is to visit all 50 states. I have 9 to go (OR, NE, SD, ND, WI, IN, KY, IA & DE -- Delaware? How do you get to Delaware. Its like on the beaten path of nowhere). Oregon makes it 8.

Turns out that Portland is a great course with hills (I actually like hills) in perfect running weather conditions (cool, possibly cloudy), and the city is one of the hippest places in the US of A. Everybody wins!

Anyway, I have begun training. I should be up to mile 10 but have only completed mile 8 for the long run.

Will keep you posted. Literally. This is a blog.

4 Ways to Thrive When Running in Hot Weather

As a summertime running masochist, I offered brilliant commentary on this good article.

"How to Lose Weight While Training For a Marathon"

Does this neckerchief make me look fat?

Seems obvious that weight loss would be a natural effect from marathon training. Apparently not. This article was eye opening if just for this revelation.

Very helpful are the calorie calculators.

I long subscribed to the "eat whatever you want" theory... until I turned 40. Never a calorie counter either, I got frustrated being told by my internist that I was technically overweight (6', 210 lbs) b/c my BMI suggested that I should be 190 lbs. I weighed that in college, and I have always been slim-ish. Started counting calories for awareness and then as a new challenge. Damn it is hard to shed the rest of the pounds. Strosaker's article helps make sense of the effort and gives me a better strategy. Thanks for the read. Now where're my Twinkies?

Top 3 songs on 3 mile run

"Rise" by PiL was good. "Thunder Road" by Springsteen was accidentally added to playlist but was surprisingly inspirational. But the Top Three of 3 was:

1. "Dyslexic Heart" by Paul Westerberg. It's as bouncy as a TV commercial. How can you not enjoy it? It makes me want to buy soap or Hot Pockets. 

2. "Arlandria" by the Foo Fighters. Having just been released from my own bondage in the Alexandria, VA area, this was my anger power song. 

3. "Eminence Front" by The Who. I was hazed to this song in college. How can I like it so much? 

Today's run was finally a good one after so many crappy days. Was it the music? Was it the 3 mile bike ride earlier today?

A friend and occasional running partner is  helping to inaugurate the first ever marathon in Lafayette, La, called the Zydeco Marathon. It is in March 2014. Lafayette is one of the funnest towns in the U.S. of A. It is the Cajun Capital of Acadiana.  But damnit if the race isn't a double loop. I hate covering the same ground twice. 

Long runs are mental games, right? Boring terrain, or the same terrain make me think too much about the actual running, pain, cramps, chafing, and other embarrassing afflictions. 

I mean, do you care if you run the same place twice? Or what can you do to win the mental game on a double loop?

Top 3 Songs of my 3 mile run

In order:

1. "Outta My System" by My Morning Jacket (motivation comes from strange places)





2. "Holdin On To Black Metal" another by My Morning Jacket






3. "That's Not My Name" by the Ting Tings. Yeah, the Ting Tings. I became a fan while watching mind numbing stretches of Nick, Jr. at 2 a.m.

More than 10,000 Served!

October 2012 marks the occasion when more than 10,000 readers have viewed the Tao of Po since the blog's inception one year ago in October 2011. Most sites get 10,000 hits a day. Indeed, most junkies get more hits a day, but our humble little blog is pleased that there are those of you who have taken time in your day for a little Zen.

Go on ya, Dragon Warriors you. Go on ya.

Thank you!

You never know, underneath all that fat and fur is a Dragon Warrior

The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.

Their wisdom was unfathomable.
There is no way to describe it;
all we can describe is their appearance.

They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-covered stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapeable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water.

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself;

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 15
Translation by Stephen Mitchell

The translator’s Zen Master Seung Sahn elaborates on this piece by further stating, “Our mind is like a glass of water. If we put salt into the water it becomes salt water; sugar, it becomes sugar water; shit, it becomes shit water. But originally the water is clear. No thinking, no mind. No mind, no problem.”

Lao-tse’s Chapter 15 applies more broadly than this, but I say resist the influences of others to shape your beliefs and values. And don’t let others define who you are.

And don’t be afraid to explore – your whole life – your identity and capabilities. You won’t know you can fight until you throw a punch… or take a punch.

Others may think they know who you are – until you prove them differently.

You may think you know who you are, until you test and stretch your limits.

You never know, underneath all that fat and fur is a Dragon Warrior.

Another of life’s Big Things is discovering who you are

The problem with many people is that they are subjected to external stimuli such as this and accept it, even assimilate it. Individuals with strong personalities are usually pretty good about establishing their own identities, but others, like me, have to work hard for.

Somewhere underneath it all is you, your brain and your heart. God and DNA ensure that humans and snowflakes are individually unique. Most of us can think for ourselves and those of us with a conscience feel emotions and embrace beliefs based on how we feel and what we think.
 

Despondent, Po sought refuge at the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom where he gorged himself on fruit to help sooth his pain. He was approached by the wise Master Oogway.

“I pretty much sucked today more than anyone in the history of Kung Fu. In the history of China! In the history of sucking!” said Po.

“Probably,” replied Oogway.

“The [Furious] Five! You should’ve seen them. They totally hate me!” said Po.

“Totally,” said Oogway.

“How’s Shifu going to turn me into the Dragon Warrior?” said Po. “I’m not like the Five. I’ve got no claws. No wings. No venom. Even Mantis has those… thingies. (sigh). Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles.”

“Quit. Don’t quit. Noodles. Don’t noodles,” said Oogway. You are too concerned about what’s what and what will be. There is a saying, ‘Yesterday’s history. Tomorrow’s a mystery. But today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”

Quit. Don't Quit. Noodles. Don't Noodles

Another of life’s Big Things is discovering who you are.

I will turn you into the Dragon Warrior, or somesuch

At his weakest moment, when Po had given up on himself, he tried desperately to escape. He was convinced he could never be the Dragon Warrior and that he could not face arch villain Tai Lung. He was intercepted by his teacher, Master Shifu.

“C’mon! How am I supposed to beat Tai Lung? I can’t even beat you to the stairs” shouts Po.”

You will beat him because you are the Dragon Warrior,” says Shifu.

I will make you the Dragon Warrior

“You don’t believe that,” cries Po. “You never believed that. From the first moment I got here, you’ve been trying to get rid of me.”

“Yes, I was… Yes! But now I ask you to trust in your master the way I have come to trust in mine,” replies Shifu.

“You’re not my master, and I’m not the Dragon Warrior,” says Po.

“Then why didn’t you quit?” shouts Shifu. ” You know I was trying to get rid of you, yet you stayed!”

“Yeah, I stayed,” said Po. “I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head or said I smelled, it hurt, but it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being me.

“I stayed because I thought that if anyone could change me… could make me… not me… it was you: the greatest Kung Fu teacher in all of China.”

Here Po admits that he too was trying to become something he is not. Just like Shifu was trying to make him into something he is not.

“But I can change you!” pleaded Shifu. “I can turn you into the Dragon Warrior! And I will!”

Po laughs, “Come on. Tai Lung is on his way here right now. And even if it takes him 100 years to get here, how are you going to change this [his fat body] into the Dragon Warrior? Huh? How? How? How!”

Shifu pauses introspectively, realizing Po is right, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Po.

The problem with many people is that they are subjected to external stimuli such as this and accept it, even assimilate it. Individuals with strong personalities are usually pretty good about establishing their own identities, but others, like me, have to work hard for.

Somewhere underneath it all is you, your brain and your heart. God and DNA ensure that humans and snowflakes are individually unique. Most of us can think for ourselves and those of us with a conscience feel emotions and embrace beliefs based on how we feel and what we think.

More Taoist Po-etry

We all have a place in the world...

Po’s duck dad believes Po’s destiny is to take over the noodle stand one day. He says to Po, “We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins.” It is clear to his father who Po is and what his life’s calling will be.

Po asks his father if he ever had dreams and aspirations. His father replies that he once had a dream of running away from the family noodle business to make tofu; a dream he abandoned in his youth. Sighing, he says to Po, “We all have a place in the world, and yours is table 2, 5, 7 and 12.”

Despite his dreams to the contrary, Po’s destiny and identity are being shaped by that most influential person: the parent.

Part of discovering the Big Thing is understanding what’s important to you in life and striving to be contented. Part of pursuing the Big Thing is striving for purpose, meaning and fulfillment in life.

The foundation of it all is knowing who you are and establishing your identity. This is really, really hard. For some it comes easy, for others it is unattainable. For me, it was a struggle that ended only after years of severe depression.

I hate to quote Whitney Houston (and believe me, I really do hate to quote Whitney Houston), but she really said something in her song “Greatest Love of All” when she belted out,

I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

All human identity emerges from our genetics. You have heard the phrase “nurture and nature,” meaning some influences in human development are based on external factors while others are come from our DNA.

We are who we are because of the DNA bequeathed to us by our parents (thanks for the double chin!) and the external forces and environment that influence our behavior, values and beliefs.

Every day there is a competition around us by others who tell us how to think and feel, what to believe, what to do, and who to be. Yes, who to be.

People often influence what you are and what you become because of their opinions of your abilities and powers. Such people are influential over us because we empower their opinions – right or wrong – by accepting them and allowing ourselves to be shaped by them. You say I am handsome, I will quickly believe it. You say I am a toad, and alas, eventually I will own it.

For Po, he was predestined to be a noodle vendor, not because he wanted but because to his father it was so. And he accepted.

Po’s teacher and heroes dismissed him as a joke, questioning his abilities, let alone his place on earth. And he accepted it.