And that is the clue to the final cause of running. I ran that hill for one reason only: to run it. On that hill, dying, gasping for breath, in mute lactic agony-at that precise moment in time, there was nothing in the world I would rather be doing. Or this passage on the joy of charging up a hill:

Running is the open space where thoughts come to play. On every long run that has gone right, there comes a point where thinking stops and thoughts begin. I am not yet in the heartbeat of the run the rhythm of the run has not done its hypnotic work. The run does not yet have me in its grip. If I am thinking at all when I run, this is a sign of a run gone wrong-or at least, of a run that has not yet gone right. References to Nietzsche and Heidegger are balanced with eloquent descriptions of runs and reflections on aging, death, love and child rearing from a runner's perspective.īut it's his characterization of the mental states of running that long-term runners will recognize most and appreciate, like this description of the heartbeat of a run: Heady stuff, yes, but the book doesn't require a degree in philosophy to understand. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play Here, the self has shrunk to nothing, and runners experience the freedom of knowing that no reasons can make them stop they are 'beyond the authority of reasons.' The deepest level, called the 'Sartrean phase,' after Jean-Paul Sartre, occurs only when the runner completely subsumes in the run, such as might occur in the final stages of a marathon. This describes the point when runners aren't thinking they're simply experiencing thoughts that come from nowhere. As the run takes over, runners experience the 'Humean phase,' named after philosopher David Hume, who saw humans as bundles of thoughts and emotions without a directing force. The mind bargains with the body, telling it lies and coercing it along. In the 'Cartesian phase,' based on the theories of Rene Descartes, there's a separation between mind and body. In stories and reflections from his own life, starting from a childhood romp up a mountain and ending with the Miami Marathon, Rowlands reveals the deepening levels of running experience. And learning to appreciate that intrinsic value helps you to recognize and appreciate intrinsic value throughout life, in an age where everything tends to be judged only on its usefulness, what it can do for us. , argues that while many begin running for an 'instrumental' value-to lose weight, gain fitness, stay sane, prepare for a race, or, in his case, provide an outlet for the boundless energy of his three big dogs-eventually, 'if you run long and hard enough' you discover its intrinsic value, as something to be enjoyed for its own sake. Rowlands, a professor of philosophy at the University of Miami and author of The Philosopher and the Wolf

Running with the pack mark rowlands