I'm a Runner

Some visitors here might be interested in knowing how my habitual daily running is related to "business, technology, and philosophy", because, after all, it should be rather clear by now that I have no interest in creating anything that resembles a stereotypical social networking page. The title of today's post originates from the back page "I'm a Runner" feature in Runner's World that has captured my interest ever since the magazine's relatively recent makeover (and with which I was not initially pleased).

Because I started running at an early age (starting with my school involvement from third grade through high school, and continuing with my noncompetitive years following that time period), running has been important throughout much of my life, and it has helped enable some perspectives that I would not otherwise been able to acquire (more on this in future posts), so "philosophy" is not limited to the classic love-of-wisdom definition, but way-of-life in the sense that life in general is a race for me.

The October, 2009 issue of Runner's World interviews Poet Laureate Kay Ryan. In some sense, several of the runners featured in the "I'm a Runner" series share this philosophy to some degree, but none have expressed this so explicitly until now. My favorite remark by Ryan here, in response to the question "What are your goals in running?" is as follows:

My only ambition is to continue running-forever. It's worked out so
far. I've known too many people who are so intense with their running
or other things that they burn out and never do it again. I want to
avoid that. I want running to always bring me pleasure.

Interestingly enough, Sir James Dyson, inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner (sorry Dyson, I have an Oreck), in the September, 2009 entry for this Runner's World series, responds as follows to the question "Do you ever get ideas for new inventions while running?":

It's very difficult not to think about work, but I don't think I have
ideas in that sense. Running focuses my mind and allows me to think
around a subject. I still need a workshop to make discoveries, but I
might think of a new avenue to explore on a run.

As a consultant, I can completely relate to Dyson. There are two mental activities in which I engage while running: meditation and problem solving. I have been asked on a number of occasions throughout my life why I run, somewhat reminiscent of the movie Run, Fat Boy, Run, in which the main character is asked this question repeatedly as he runs to lose weight, but while physical fitness is obviously a benefit, running means mental fitness for me. For example, I have solved some rather tough logic (including programming) problems for clients during long runs.