I’ve been reading on several blogs lately about the
importance of mantras. A really good
read at Rock Creek Runner [and the free ebook is worth a read fo’ shizzle
– more on that later], and also a nice entry over at Miss Zippy’s place. As I’m training for my first half marathon,
I’m thinking that maybe I ought to get me one of them things, these mantras.
I downloaded the ebook from Rock Creek Runner, which is a
collection of short essays by runners about their mantras. Really, really interesting stuff, and very
divergent. My favorite was from
Susan Lacke: “Man the F&*$
up.” It made me think about an old club
soccer coach of mine, who, among other memorable lines, would often cajole us
with, “Aw, c’mon, ladies. Cowboy up and
get it done!” Not the most P.C. man who
ever picked up a clipboard, but effective.
He’s also the one who regularly trotted out this gem: “If you ladies”
(do you see a theme emerging here?) “are done playing grab ass over there, come
back and join us.”
I digress. I think
that I was typing about mantras.
Although “Cowboy up!” seems solid, I do live in Minnesota, and there
just ain’t that many cowboys here, pardner.
Of course, being the mediocre but enthusiastic runner that I am, maybe I
should just stick with “Cripes! How much
farther is this path, anyway?” That’s a
good one – seems to pop up on a semi-regular basis.
On a run last week, through, I was thinking about the ubiquitous
book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Let me just go out on a cyber-limb here and
give it a thumbs-up - along with pretty much every other running blogger on the
face of the earth. Try this – go to a random
running blog, type “Born to Run” in the search box, and see if you don’t get a
hit. Go on – try it. I’ll be here when
you get back.
Anyhoo – one of the sections from Born to Run kept
coming into my mind as I was running.
It’s found on page 111, and it’s from “Caballo Blanco” – the main
“character” (and I use that term literally) in the book:
“Think
Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you
get that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t
give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve
practiced that for so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on
making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one — you get
those three, and you’ll be fast.”
Love that – “Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast.” It works, I think , on several levels, and
for pretty much any type, style, ability, and pace. I’ve been working on the “light” aspect as of
late – which for me right now means trying to make my footfalls as close to
silent as I can. Full-on ninja mode (or
as close as a 40-year-old 195½ pound white guy can get to ninja mode).
I’ll keep you posted as to whether I make it to “Smooth” and
“Fast.”
Any great mantras out there that you’d care to share?