Earphones VS No Earphones

Alright now, here’s one place where Pam and I have a minor disagreement. When we venture out to the local forest preserve path, Pam sometime runs long, slow distance while I tend to stick with my sprints. And with my recovery walks in between, we finish about the same time.

But when this happens, Pam plugs into her IPhone, installs her earbuds, and listens to her favorite oldies podcast while she runs long. I on the other hand, prefer to avoid such distraction in favor of tuning into and exploring my own thoughts and ideas, experiencing my own body in motion, my own breathing or inability to catch it. 

I confess that Pam is certainly much more in style in this regard than I am. Most runners that I see striding along the local streets and sidewalks these days are hooked-up, plugged in, earphones or ear buds, IPhones in a pocket or strapped onto a bicep and they’re listening to whatever or whomever they care to listen to.

On the other hand, the luddite in me says, “No way amigo!” I’m suspicious of technology. I feel like the robot is in control of far too much of life already. Why should I give up an hour with myself, my own thoughts, ideas, etc. to yet another frickin’ machine? I simply choose to avoid this particular high tech distraction.

On the other hand, I (Pam) find that the music energizes me in a way that Mother Nature doesn’t!  That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the beauty of my surroundings, but the music doesn’t close me off from the world.  I have no problem smiling at the sight of a coyote sitting on the side of the path, or pointing out a deer to Rick, as he’s catching up to me.  Perhaps the music heightens my senses in a way that is unappreciated by my husband.   

But sprints are another story for me when I’m with Rick.  Because they are short and sweet. I lose my headphones.   The sound of his counting our steps is a rhythm all unto itself.

Conventional Competition VS Self-Competition

If you’re interested in conventional competition we suggest you check out the USA Masters Track and Field website. You’ll find plenty of it for folks ages 30, 40, 50 and up…way up. They offer local, regional, national, and international competition for anyone who’s interested.

But we aren’t particularly interested in conventionally competing. We are however staunch proponents of self-competition. In other words we try to improve just a little, on a regular basis, over time despite the fact that we’re in our 70’s and supposedly on the physiological decline.

So how do we monitor improvements in our sprinting? In the big picture, when sprinting, we’re both doing something that we were unable to do a decade ago. As a friend once advised, “Work gets in the way of life.” So we redeveloped our interest and our ability to sprint.

More recently, we occasionally go to the track and count how many strides it takes each of us to cover 100 yards. Last summer it was 20 counts (80 strides). This summer it’s 18 counts (72 strides). That means our stride lengths are longer (we’re covering more ground per stride). And presuming the same frequency, we’re probably a little faster than we were last summer. 

All that said, at this stage of the game, in our seventies, we both still need mountains to climb, challenges to meet, and reasons to get out of bed in the morning. And as crazy as it sounds, sprinting has become one of our favorite mountains to climb.

Sprinting Barefoot in the Grass…

When sprinting barefoot in the grass (which we do only occasionally) we’re transported back in time. We’re transformed from seventy year old senior citizens to seventeen year old kids. It’s a foot massage in the cool green dew of a summer morning. It’s exotic if not erotic.

It’s sure footing with feet and toes being allowed to do what they were naturally designed to do. The lack of foot support strengthens the toes and the arches, which in turn is good for the ankles, the knees, and the lower back. It feels good. It’s Mother Nature’s foot massage.

Do we sprint barefoot in the grass often? No. It’s a special treat. Is it for everyone? No. But then again sprinting isn’t for everyone either. It’s for adventurers who still want to play with life. Who want to know if they still can play with life. Bottom line, it’s just plain fun.

The Carcinogenic Coach

Watch a bunch of elementary school age kids as they stream out of the door for recess. Running, jumping, laughing, playing. For most kids, recess at the elementary school level is little more than fifteen to twenty minutes worth of short sprints interspersed by bouts of talking and socializing, repeated over and over until the bell rings calling them back to class.

Enter the well-intended parent/football coach whose goal is to mold his young tigers into a team of winners. You know the type. Discipline. Organization. Teamwork. A well-oiled machine.  

But when some kid makes a mistake or is caught fooling around, the parent/coach automatically responds with “Give me a lap.” The culprit is effectively being punished by forcing him/her to run. A behavioral psychologist once said “I could teach kids to hate Snicker bars by forcing kids to eat a Snicker bar every time they did something I thought was wrong.”

All that said, how many times does this little scenario have to be repeated before all the kids on the football team learn to associate running with punishment? How many well-intended coaches have inadvertently taught how many kids that the activity they naturally loved at recess, sprinting and socializing, is something to be avoided? It’s a form of punishment instead of a naturalistic expression of joy? If you’ve been taught to dislike running, we suggest that you rethink those days when you were in elementary school and recognize how much fun it once was to sprint!

Next post:  Barefoot in the Grass