Janathon 2013 Day 31, the last

Walk - 3.5 miles, 1h 5m. Weather - strong gusty winds, but sky was blue

Janathon has now finished; not with a bang, a grand gesture, a monster run or a hard session, but with a tame walk. But that was OK, I used the time to work some things through, by letting thoughts bubble up (rather than trying to force them). This freeform way of thinking is one of the pleasures of walking and one of the reasons why, as an exercise, it should never be underestimated. Sometimes we place too much value on the volume of sweat shed or the hardness of the task. Slow, steady activity can have great value.

This January, though, has been about more than exercise. Trying to find a Stoic quote for each day has been as challenging as getting out of the door; but I have managed all but two days and surprised myself. When I started it seemed a slightly absurd idea and all I hoped was that I would be able write at least a couple of posts linking practical philosophy to running .In the end I have gone the distance and so will sign off with a quote about the nature of philosophy:

“Philosophy, however, takes as her aim the state of happiness.That is the direction in which she opens routes and guides us. She shows us what are real and what are only apparent evils. She strips men’s minds of empty thinking, bestows a greatness that is solid and administers a check to greatness where it is puffed up and all an empty show; she sees that we are left in no doubt about the difference between what is great and what is bloated. And she imparts a knowledge of the whole of nature, as well as herself. She explains what the gods are, and what they are like.” (Seneca, Letters, XC, 31)

I wouldn’t even attempt to say the same about running!

Janathon 2013 Day 30 - Getting near the end

I haven’t listed the day’s exercise as it’s hardly worth it. It has been a token effort: just a few stretches. That is all - but it will have to be enough. It’s getting to the end of the month and I’m running out of steam.  I am though amazed that it is the 30th already.  Time flies! We need a quote to match that idea - and I have one but it is as much about the proper role of education as it is about life disappearing behind us.

Stoicism was a school of practical philosophy whose central idea was to guide people on the path towards living of a virtuous life. It is not overly theoretical (or rather it is only as theoretical as it needs to be) and it believes that true understanding comes with practical application not just through reading (in fact Epictetus writes about the futility of just reading Chrysippus and thinking you are making progress). It is rather different to the western academic tradition as it has evolved and certainly at odds with philosophy as it is currently taught in our universities. However it is its practicality that makes the philosophy as vivid to us now as it was to the people of ancient Greece and Rome as we are basically still the same sort of people. Life is still finite and time rushes by:

“Things tend, in fact, to go wrong: part of the blame lies on the teachers of philosophy, who today teach us how to argue rather than how to live, part on their students, who come to their teachers in the first place with a view to developing not their character but their intellect. The result has been a transformation of philosophy, the study of wisdom, into philology, the study of words.

The object which we have in view, after all, makes a great deal of difference to the manner in which we approach any subject. If he intends to become a literary scholar a person examining his Virgil does not say to himself when he reads that magnificent phrase

Irrestorable, Time flies

‘We need to bestir ourselves; life will leave us behind unless we make haste; the days are fleeting by, carried away at a gallop, carrying us with them; we fail to recognise the pace at  which we are swept along; here we are making comprehensive plans for the future  and generally behaving as if we had all the leisure in the world when there are precipices all around us.’ No his purpose is to note that Virgil invariably uses the word ‘flies’ whenever he speaks of the swift passage of time.” (Seneca, Letters, CVIII, 24)

Janathon 2013 Day 23 - The daily audit

Walk - 6 miles, 1hr 45m Weather - raw

All our senses should be educated into strength: they are naturally able to endure much, provided the spirit forebears to spoil them. The spirit ought to be bought up for examination daily. It was the custom of Sextius when the day was over, and he had betaken himself to rest, to inquire of is spirit: “What bad habit of yours have you cured today? What vice have you checked? In what respects are you better?” ... What can be more admirable than this fashion of of discussing the whole of the day’s events? How sweet the sleep that follows this self-examination? ... I make use of this privilege and daily plead my cause before myself ... I conceal nothing from myself and omit nothing: for why should I be afraid of any of my shortcomings, when it is in my power to say: “I pardon you this time; see that you never do that anymore.” (Seneca, On Anger, Book III, 36)

This passage comes from a book about anger - how damaging an emotion it is and how we should control it. The daily audit is included as a technique that might be useful (“anger will cease, and become more gentle, if it knows that everyday it must come before the judgement seat.” was a phrase I omitted from the above) but it obviously has a wider application. It applies to every aspects of our lives  and so obviously that would include running.

It is what every one of us does when we write down our mileage, speed, weather conditions, how we felt and where we are on our schedule. It is what many of do when we write our blogs (though I must admit to being a bit skimpy with those sort of details). It enables us to look back and see how we have improved (or not) and evaluate our regimes. Importantly it allows us to see whether we are being soft with ourselves or not. Concerning that I rather like the first sentence of the quote. It could be a motto for almost every runner

Janathon 2013 Day 22 - Within your own limits

Gym - weights, 35m

‘The life of folly is empty of gratitude and full of anxiety: it s focussed wholly on the future.’ ... What sort of life do you think is meant by a life of folly? Baba and Isio’s? No, he means our own life, precipitated by blind desire into activities that are likely to bring us harm and will certainly not bring us satisfaction - if they could satisfy us they would have done so by now - never thinking how pleasant it is to ask for nothing, how splendid it is to be complete and independent of fortune. So continually remind yourself, Lucilius, of the many things you have achieved. When you look at all the people out in front of you think of all the ones behind you. (Seneca, Letters, XV).

The last sentence reminds me of some running advice I read from Joe Hnederson, where he pointed out that when you line-up at the start of a marathon do not worry about how slow you will be compared to the others. Even if you finnish last you will still be in front of those who signed up but didn’t make it to the start and all of those who never got off the couch to even enter. Always looking ahead to those who are faster (and there will always be someone faster) will cause dissatisfaction with what you have achieved and what you can do. 

But that advice not only applies at the start of a race, it applies to everything. It was helpful to me today as when I started on the treadmill I felt a twinge behind my right knee. It was not bad and I could have continued but as after 5 minutes, as it was still there, I decided to stop and concentrate on weight training, which I could do without problem. I felt quite happy switching my attention, especially as I didn’t want a twinge to turn into a tweak and then a strain. Working within my capabilities is always the right thing to do but the next step of being grateful for those capabilities is just as important but usually more difficult. So it was with me today - until I sat down and thought about it.

Janathon 2013 Day 18 - Noise

Running (on treadmill - 8.2km time - 42m, Weights & stretches - 40m. The weather outside was snowy.

Gyms are noisy places. Not only is there the thump of feet on the treadmills (some people are very heavy runners) there is the sound of the motors, then there is the background sound of some sort of music. If the body builders are in there are grunts, and if someone is using the punchbag there is a slapping sound. I cut out much of this by listening to my own music and concentrate on what I have to do. As I look around I see that about half of us do the same.

Gyms were ever noisy:

“I cannot for the life of me see that quiet is as necessary to a person who has shut himself away to do some studying as it is usually thought to be. Picture me with a babel of noise going on all about me, staying right over a public bath-house. Now imagine to yourself all manner of sounds that can get you hating your ears. When the strenuous types are doing their exercises, swinging weight laden hands about, I hear grunting as they toil away - or go through the motions of toiling away - at them, and the hissings and strident gasps every time they expel their pent up breath. When my attention turns to a less active fellow who is contenting himself with an ordinary, inexpensive massage, I hear the smack of the hand pummelling his shoulders, the sound varying according as it comes down flat or cupped. But if on top of this  some ball player comes along shouting the score, one is done for! ...But by now I have so steeled myself against all these things that I can put up with even the coxswains strident tones as he gives the oarsmen the rhythm. For I force my mind to become self absorbed and not let outside things distract it. There can be absolute bedlam without so long as there is no commotion within, so long as fear and desire are not at loggerheads, so long as meanness and extravagance are not at odds and harassing each other. For what is the good of having silence throughout the neighbourhood if one’s emotions are in turmoil.” (Seneca, Letters, LVI)

Seneca had his self discipline. I have an IPod. TA less virtuous method but times change. 

Janathon 2013 Day 15 - New shoes

Running (on treadmill) - 5K, 25 minutes, Weights - 30 minutes

I am always suspicious of theories based on speculation about our early ancestors or movements where the proponents are evangelically convinced of the rightness of their cause. For that reason I have shied away from the barefoot running debate. I am unconvinced of the reasoning that says we were adapted to running before before shoes and so this is the optimal style, therefore shoes are not only unnecessary they are a problem. In the same way that I am unconvinced by the suggestion that we should eat a stone age diet. And anyway why is running so different to walking? There is nowhere need the same head of steam behind any idea that we should ditch our walking shoes.

That is not really the point though - all that really matters is if it works or not. The key claim is that barefoot running (or running in minimalist shoes) reduces injury and this should be open to testing.  Over the next few years (now there are enough people to provide decent sized samples) we should be getting some answers. In particular I will be interested in the results of this research which plans to track people in this years London Marathon.

But in the meantime should I wait or should I try for myself, especially as a number of people I know have made the switch and are enthusiastic about the results? As I also like the principle of 'being an experiment of one' and am liable to tinker with things, I have been edging towards giving minimalist running a go. After all there is nothing much to lose. If I switch and my running improves then everything is worthwhile, however if I don't get on with it, I have lost nothing but a little time playing about. On the other hand inertia is a powerful force so why change?

However my mind was made up when New Balance offered me the chance to try-out one of their minimalist shoes. The scales of the argument lurched violently to one side and I am now quite excited with the idea of trying something new.

I have now collected them from the Post Office and have tried them on around the house and must admit to being pleased. They look good, feel comfortable and I am anxious to try them out. At the moment that is all I can say. If they were normal trainers I would take them out and know very quickly how they compared, but with these I will be running slightly differently and so will not know straight away. i will break them in gently and although they are trail shoes they will spend the first part of their life on a treadmill, starting with only 15 minutes tomorrow. It will actually be a little time before I know what I think of them.

So what of my Stoic quote of the day? Unsurprisingly they say absolutely nothing about running styles. However there is something quoted by Seneca in Letter IX, which is pertinent to the way I thought of making the change and how it actually happened:

If you pray a thing may
And it does come your way
'Tis a long way from being your own

Janathon 2013 Day 12 - Weights, freedom and wine

Gym - run 3.2 km + weights, Time - 1h 5m, Weather - definitely getting colder

The weather is cold and raw but that is not the reason I am back in the gym. I am there because I want to continue my programme of strengthening exercises and use the weight machines. Now I know that the consensus is that machines are not as good as free weights but I find them easier to use - because I don't have to think too much about what I am supposed to be doing. In their small way they offer a parable about freedom and choice. Free weights offer unlimited opportunities to exercise specific muscle groups and choose the exact weight you need, whilst machines limit your range of motion and exercise specific muscle groups only. However to best exercise your freedom you need to know what you are doing and have a routine worked out, in other words a certain amount of expertise, whereas I don't want to think about it too much. I just want to work-out the bigger muscle groups without worrying. All I want is something I can do quickly and efficiently. Choice is a good thing but it is not always the ultimate good. The guys in the corner, sculpting their bodies, need their free weights. I do not.

To finnish this little piece I had thought of finding a Stoic quote about the limiting ones freedom and how less can sometimes be more, but I came upon something a little unexpected: a passage that shows that Stoicism is not about self abnegation and continual control. The aim is to be able to live a good life, not being an ascetic. Although it mentions that freedom is best in moderation it is mainly about sometimes letting go, or more specifically enjoying wine.

"We must humour our minds and grant them rest from time to time, which acts upon them like food, and restores their strength … at times we ought to drink even to intoxication, not so as to drown, but merely to dip ourselves in wine: for wine washes away troubles and dislodges them from the depths of the mind, and acts as a remedy to sorrow as it does to some diseases. The inventor of wine is called Liber, not from the licence which he gives to our tongues but because he liberates our minds from the bondage of cares … Yet moderation is wholesome both in freedom and in wine." (Seneca, On Peace of Mind, ch xvii)

It is Saturday and I think that gives me a good steer as to what I should do tonight,

Janathon 2013 Day 9 - Peace of Mind

Run - 6.5km, Time - 36 minutes

“What we are seeking, then, is how the mind may always pursue a steady, unruffled course, may be pleased with itself, and look with pleasure upon its surroundings, and experience no interruption of this joy, but abide in a peaceful condition without being either elated or depress: this will be ‘peace of mind’ (Seneca, On Peace of Mind)”

This is not my default state of mind but I can sometimes feel like that and it can be induced by a run. I know nothing that beats the feeling of earned rest, when the body feels slightly tingly and the mind is alert but empty. After your stretches, you can drink your tea and eat your banana (or whatever else you do) and sit, or lie, in a state of quiet contentment. Sometimes I like to put on some music (usually something ECM ish) and it often seems clearer and more coherent than normal because it is all there is. I am thinking of nothing else. 

It is possible to run your worries away - at least for a short time andI think this little interlude is as good a reason for running as any.

Janathon 2013 Day 7 - Could do better

Walk - 3 miles, Time - 50m, Weather - damp cold, and grey

Last night my plan was to go for a run before breakfast but sometimes good intentions are only that: intentions. I woke up feeling headachy, low, not quite the ticket,  and far from the picture of an athlete at the peak of his prowess (disclaimer I have never looked like that). I really didn’t want to do anything much in the way of exercise but I had a get out. I am a firm believer in rest days and taking things easy on at least two days a week. So going for a walk was just fine.  I would like to report that as soon as I got out and felt the air on my cheeks my spirits lifted and a spring returned to my step - but that would not be quite true. It wasn’t bad but neither was it good. it was merely mechanical.

However I carried on with my reading of the Stoics and today’s quote emphasises something common to any activity, any skill that needs mastering, and certainly to Janathon: the need for consistency. It is as true of running as it is the study of philosophy.

Yet this conviction, clear as it is needs to be strengthened and given deeper roots through daily reflection; making noble resolutions is not as important as keeping the resolutions you have made already. You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good...although I have great hopes for you, I do not yet feel quite confident about you. And I should like you to adopt the same attitude: you’ve no grounds for forming a ready, hasty belief in yourself. Carry out a searching analysis and close scrutiny of yourself in all sorts of different lights. (Seneca, Letters XVI)

No grounds for complacency there and it is something we should all heed as well as Lucius. I have said many times: running is about honesty. The time you take and how far you can go shows you exactly your level. There are no excuses and your level is exactly as high as it deserves to be. In other words you must always look at what you achieve with a clear eye.

For myself, today, I need to look closely at my change of plan and be honest with myself whether it was acceptable or whether it was backsliding. I will only really know tomorrow.

Janathon2013 Day 5 - Not too much exercise

Walk - 3 miles, Time - 50m, Weather - grey and overcast.

Sometime in the past 3 months I might have moaned about the miserable weather, complained about the dreariness of the light and suggested that we have had enough rain already. How boring - complaining about the weather is one of the more useless types of conversation you can have and it is not anything a fully paid-up Stoic would do. Nevertheless it has happened and in my defence I post this picture to show how dull, waterlogged, and grey everything is. It might prove a point but it also shows you how far I am from a practicing Stoic - but there again I make no claims to be one.

As if to prove the point I will give you a quote from Seneca (Letter XV) contra to my current endeavours:


"For it is silly, my dear Lucilius, and no way for an educated man to behave, to spend one's time exercising the biceps, broadening the neck and shoulders and developing the lungs. Even when the extra feeding has produced gratifying results and you've put on a lot of muscle, you'll never match the strength or the weight of a prize ox. The greater load, moreover, on the body is crushing to the spirit and renders it less active. So keep the body within bounds as much as you can and make room for the spirit."

So there we have it. Seneca believes that you should do the minimum amount necessary to keep the body healthy and devote your time to the pursuit of wisdom and seemed to think there was a degree of conflict between body and mind. But you should never believe anything just because it was said by someone with a reputation for wisdom. In some cases it is possible, just possible, that a Japanese sports goods company  has a better idea.  A sound mind in a sound body - yes indeed!

Janathon 2013 Day 4: In the moment

Cycling - 15.5 miles, Time - 1h 11m, Weather - cloudy

The weather today would have been unremarkable if it hadn’t been for all the other days but at the moment no rain or heavy grey skies should be celebrated. So I took to my bike along the country lanes, up and down a few hills, and enjoyed the views and the feeling of hard work going up before the release of going down. It was fun;  not highly charged as if suddenly everything felt alive and full of zest but more restrained in an english  “you know this is really quite nice” sort of way.

When going down hill along twisty lanes with hedges that obscure the view I go much slower than is possible. All the time I am thinking ahead, wondering if there is a car behind the next bend, keeping to my side of the road and preparing to take avoiding action. It kills the freedom of sweeping descents where you can use the apex of the corners and go for the best line but it seems like the best thing to do.

It got me thinking about whether I was actually living in the present or the future because I was thinking about nothing else other than the descent and handling my bike but at the same time I was thinking ahead, even if the time frame was short. It is rather academic because all that matters is that I was concentrating and fully absorbed however it does lead me to the Stoic quote of the day about the living in the moment.  It is from a letter of Seneca where he talks about fear and hope being bound together because we project our thoughts forward instead of adapting to the presents. In other words  although forethought is one of our greatest gifts it can also be a curse:

“Wild animals run from the dangers they actually see and once they have escaped them worry no more. We however are tormented alike by what is past and what is to come. A number of our blessings do us harm, for memory brings back the agony of fear while foresight brings it on prematurely. No one confines his unhappiness to the present.”

On my ride I was really like that animal (though not at all wild I hasten to add), I reacted to potential dangers but once past I forgot them. When home all I was left with was a tingly feeling on the skin  from exertion in coldish air, and the memory of the muscular pleasure of turning the pedals.

Defensive Running

Juneathon day 17 run 9.66km time 55min

For some reason this year’s Juneathon has included a certain amount of trolley spotting but today the trolley is not merely abandoned, it is dead. Drowned in the canal, with only its little wheels visible.

I was by the canal again today because, for the first time in ages, the sky was cloudless and the temperature warm. If you run by the canal you not only get the psychological cooling from the sight of water, you have the real cooling effect of trees and shade from direct sunlight. As someone whose body shape is more eskimo than equatorial I do not cope too well with heat and so seek places to shelter. Pavements are terrible, they just reflect the sun and gradually bake you.

Having said that I am glad it is sunny again. It seems to make everyone more relaxed and today there was even some eye contact and smiles of acknowledgement with people I passed.

On today’s run I was mulling over a quote from Seneca - “he who studies with a philosopher should take away with him some one good thing every day: he should daily return home a sounder man, or on the way to becoming sounder.” I applied it to running rather than philosophy and questioned whether each run makes me better or puts me on the path to improvement. I am not sure it does but there again my aim is far more defensive: I am trying to stop myself becoming a more feeble runner. Each run is like another brick in the supporting wall.

However it made me think that I ought to try and think of one good thing about each day’s run. Mostly I run and do not think too much about the purpose and what was achieved. Perhaps I should be more focused.

Today for example I could take some heart from the fact that I finished feeling quite strong and increased my pace for the last hundred metres. So that is what I will take away.

Juneathon statistics 17/17
Run 12/17
distance 85.62km
time 7hr 54min
Cycle 3/17
distance 54.4 miles
time 4hr 03min
Gym 2/17
time 1hr 35min