Ok, a somewhat non-running related post here so bare with me. As any distance runner will tell you one of the major obstacles that you need to over come is the mental aspect of running. No matter how fast a person runs when he or she is running numerous miles at a time there is always plenty of time to think. Often we think about the pain we are in, how many miles we have left, or simply try and numb our brains with ipods. One thing that I have found is that you can use this time to slip into almost a meditative state, to a degree, but not when you are doing 400m repeats or hills repeats then you are pretty much focused on the pain. So unless you have a very structured workout you really only have to think about running and after the first few steps most of us get the hang of it.I often listen to audio books or podcasts while out on my long easier runs and one of my favorite sources to listen to are the Ted Talks. Ted Talks is a conference put on by a nonprofit devoted to ideas worth spreading. I posted an speech from Mike Rowe the host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel and I'm posting another speech from Joshua Klein.
Joshua Klein is a fervent hacker of all things, including wet, pulpy systems like animals and people and the way they behave. Joshua talks about how he has developed a box that actually can train a crow to gather money for you. No the idea isn't to train an army of lose change seeking crows but to look at the "problem" of animals that we consider pests in a whole new light. Ok...yes now we have clearly left the running realm, however, I do believe that if we constantly challenge ourselves mentally and physically it will result in making us better people and better runners.
By constantly challenging yourself physically and mentally you can continue to redefine what is possible for yourself.
Enjoy!
Joshua Klein on the intelligence of crows | Video on TED.com
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