Sunday Long Run: Bridges and Tunnels on the Montour Trail- Zen Strikes When You Least Expect It

July 28, 2024 

There are some days I feel more grateful when I run and today was one of those days.  On those days I feel a general sense of gratitude but then there are specific things and people that the gratitude attaches itself to.

Maybe it was easy to be grateful today.  The sky was cerulean blue.  The temperature felt cool and the air light compared to recent days.  And physically I felt pretty good.  I have no current injuries and even with increasing my mileage load I don't feel exhausted.

And maybe I was primed to be grateful.  I've been listening to a couple of blogs about Zen.  I listened to a few podcasts from Mark Devine (Devine Inspiration) who is a pretty interesting character himself.  He was a Navy Seal and now studies and talks about Zen, fitness, gratitude and similar topics.  I've listened to a podcast from the Cambridge Zen Center.

And I found that when I felt more grateful for the day and the run as I was running I was more prone to notice things that usually slip by.  There is a line from the book Zen Mind Beginner's Mind that talks about seeing things with the mind of a beginner.  That is seeing it as if seeing it for the first time ever and noticing everything about it.  

So on today's run, although I've run this route dozens of times, I tried to look at every bridge, every overpass and sometimes every crack as if I'd never seen it (and would never see it again).  To really notice and be surprised by the way the light looked or by what trees were growing, seemingly impossibly, above the entrance to tunnel, or how absolutely amazingly blazingly red the caboose car is.

So the miles went by more quickly.

Not every mile.  There were times when my mind slipped into the routine well-worn paths it tends to slip into.  A biker said something rude and I had imaginary arguments for a half mile until I realized that I was arguing with someone that was just an illusion in my head.  I passed two runners and was congratulating myself on my phenomenal athletic conditioning until I realized that I was performing in front of an imaginary audience and even though this might feel good, it's better to let it go.

What can I say?  I'm working on it.


Long Run on the Montour Trail

Distance - 9.3 miles

Duration- 1h 50m

Pace 12:04

Climb194 feet

Conditions - 72 degrees, 68% humidity, winds calm.











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