The Big 3- Heat, Hills, and Humidity

Running on St. John poses challenges that I often phrase as the 3H club. The hills, heat and humidity toughen you up rather quickly when you push yourself. I did not take up this sport to simply jog a few miles daily, although that in itself is a triumph for our sedentary society and I applaud anyone for doing so. No, I run to propel my physical limits beyond what most people in their 50's would do and more importantly to obtain a sense of elation and often blissful rapture. 3-4 miles into an accelerated run often produces a clarity and insight that will put me at ease for the remainder of the day and then some. Thus the 3H's work on all the levels that sustain my overall well being. They are the Big 3 for runners on St. John. Not preparing for or respecting them will spell disaster sooner or later. Running injuries are rarely due to a single incident, sure a twisted ankle or a fall occur, but are usually the culmination of a host of mistakes in training that one day manifest in an impairment in our ability to continue at our current training levels, or at all, depending on the severity. This is the time, if used wisely, we become better runners as we reflect on the causes of our affliction and route the course to recovery and most importantly refashion our training techniques that led to our affliction.

Detroit has ignored the prior set backs and blows to its industry thinking we need them and the products they produce. Their aliments are no different than a runners in time of distress. I am still running because I took heed after several injuries in my first year. They are faltering simply because they did not. Rewarding failure is the single most devastating signal you can send to the society at large. I am all for socialized programs that feed the hungry and educate our children, but I will be Damned if I will support, along with the consensus of most Americans(nice to be in the majority for a change), any so called bailout of the Big 3. Tens of thousands of small businesses are going under as we speak and our government is doing very little, if any thing at all to help them. Why is it that the bigger and greedier you get a magic safety net seems to go along for safe keeping?

I know that a lot of jobs are at stake here. I get it, but we MUST let them fail in order to create the openings for smaller companies to produce the products we need. There are a lot of smaller companies like Tesla that will lead the way to provide us with the products we will need to move forward and change the way we think about transportation in this country. I use the word products because the automobile will not and should not be the utter necessity it is now. The companies that will create the jobs lost by the Big 3 failure will lead us into an age of transportation that makes sense for the overall society and not individual needs. I support making sure no Big 3 worker loses their pension, the government should guarantee the workers that, but beyond that the Big 3 should pay for the sins of their fathers. They kept building vehicles that did nothing to alleviate global warming and gas consumption and now they come begging to congress fresh off their private jets. When the car companies starting tearing up all the rail lines in this country and making it a necessity to drive a car, that was the beginning of this whole mess and now they must pay. The party is over and the opportunity for a host of new companies to fill the void of the Big 3 is as welcome as the return of the cool breezes that lavish the north shore and add to the joy of my daily runs.

What ever we do in life, if not thought out or prepared for, usually ends in a haphazard venue of failure. My runs are carefully plotted and thought about and I always know why I am running a particular route and what I am expecting from it. Failure has its upsides, but for the impatient it has no merit.

We are turning a corner and page in history, and on Jan. 20th 2009, we will usher in a new way of thinking and we must let the heavy weight of the current US auto industry die along with the aimless irregularities of the Bush administration. It's true it is always darkest before the dawn. I will see you all at Sunrise!
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VARIATIONS

I have been wondering as of late where all this will lead. The intensity of my runs are heightening and the state of our nation and world seem to be on a rabid, fluctuating , and out of control joyride. I control each stride as my legs propel me, and I can literally feel them strengthening at times as I push the limits of my mind and body to reach the next level. Change and progress are not always sought after but occur nonetheless. Seeking them however allows us to be involved in the process that we solely answer for. So where will my legs take me in these runs, now that the training can be amped back up after my first marathon last month. Where does one set the bar? We have done something for ourselves and for the generations to come, something people said would never happen in their lifetime. The dust settles after my feet disturb the ground below me on my nightly journeys up the north shore, rearranged only to settle elsewhere. So I say to myself and to all of the people who actively participated in the election process and also to those on the sidelines that are beginning to realize they too must partake 'WE must take back what has been eroded over the decades and participate in our democracy'. Give this a chance, the dirt will settle, and then begin to shape it.

There are as many reasons for running as there are for any other activity in life. Great runners and elders of my sport knew that each stride was a straw in the hut, a block in the pyramid and an antidote for their mind. Variations, in respect to class and culture, will be as diverse as the thoughts meandering from my brain as I glide along the roadways and trails, but will all arrive at a common yearning to better ourselves and leave the next generations with the comfort of breaking the cycles, both personal and political, that have crippled this world for my lifetime and then some. It is really quite simple, either participate and change what you do not like about yourself and our world or do nothing and blame yourself, not your government or your brethren, when it all comes crashing down. I blamed myself as I was dry heaving at mile 24 of the Portland Marathon for not being fully prepared for my undertaking, no pun intended, but I finished and learned from it. With all the vast experience of all the people in this country and abroad it behooves me think we can not obtain societies that work for the vast majorities of people. Variations offer multitudes of ways to the end, and the means are as diverse as the clouds that grace the sky at sunset over my head, and as my nightly runs define my being, I will relish and never languish in knowing we can all change and make a change.

IT'S OVER!

Runners training and careers are shaped and structured on the sound fundamentals of their sport and the ability to allow patience and common sense to prevail. My 30 day reverse taper, the gradual build up back to pre- marathon hard training , was ending on election night. A fitting ending as I have been holding back my energy. As I took the North Shore in stride I could not help but think of the unfolding history that was about to expose itself to our world and set a beacon for our future, especially our children. My runs the previous week have been preoccupied with the political wonders of this presidential race, coupled with anxiety over the state of the country and my Business.

Living here on St. John, who descendants are primarily from the slave trade, added extra measure to the historical event that I knew would follow later that evening as I took those hills and measured my worth as a person and as a father. As a white, uneducated 52 year old male, the stereotype would tell you what demo graph I should have supported in the polling and of course I did not. The 60's shaped my adolescent mind so strongly that I am forever sensitive to social injustice and prejudice. I have lived 32 of my 52 years, 11 in South Philadelphia in a black neighborhood, and 21 years here on St. John, as the minority race, and simply GASP at the difference the way society viewed race in the late 50's-early to mid 60's Philadelphia and what we now are seeing permeate the country, seeing all this through the eyes of my 7 year old son. He is still virtually colored blind, in stark contrast by my 7th birthday, as the lines had been drawn years prior. Here we go, turn the page!

My running follows cycles and reveals a lot about myself in simple moments of utter clarity as I traverse the hills. Getting lost in one's thoughts while briskly cascading through a national park is a positive forward motion into the future. Running for the highest office in the land is not much different than a runners daily excursions. Dedication, vision and confidence all play a major roll. Relying on how the masses view you in the realm of politics however is another story entirely. America has turned the page on an important chapter in it's history, and watching it unfold last night will hopefully make us a stronger, more unified country. I can only speak definitively for myself, but what seemed to have occurred last night is simply the result of a nations realization that it is finally time to move forward and work to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren that nurtures them with peace and prosperity as they sow the seeds we planted on Nov. 4th 2008. And so I move forward on my daily runs and shape my future.

As I run along the sunset skies I can not help but feel we have all moved forward regardless of which candidate you supported. I often tell Luca, my son, "Today is the Tomorrow you where thinking about Yesterday". I will now be able to look back on election night 2008 and use it as an example for myself and Luca. The muckraking and finger pointing has subsided and we can get down to the task at hand. The dirt and earth that provides the foundation for my legs as I run does me no good if it is hurled at individuals we do not agree with. When we throw dirt we lose ground. I cover a lot of ground in my daily runs but no ground was as sweet as the notion that we CAN rise above antiquated cycles and become better people. Tomorrows run will be in honour of all who participated in the process on and up to Nov. 4th 2008! I have the utmost respect for every one of you who voted and participated in the electoral process and I commend all of you. Thank you for making history!