Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Relax. Run.

Time: 26:37
Avg HR: 153
Peak HR: 176
Distance: 3.3
Start Time: 6:54 AM
Training Effect: 3.8
Temp: high-50s
Date: 6/6/07

Today was a gorgeous morning, and based on how it's clouded up since my run I'd say that I sucked the marrow out of the best part of the day. strange run. I was really grinding up to the halfway point. Then I worked on just trying to relax. Relax my breathing by taking some deep breaths that started in the diaphragm and trying to really exhale fully as well, I let my arms down a bit, let my arms and flow -- for some reason it felt like i was fighting each step -- and relaxed the muscles in my face, relax my thoughts and think about nothing really . . . things started to flow and parts of the run that often bother me didn't. It was a nice exercise in disassociation.

A little historical note: today is the 63rd anniversary of the Normandy Landings. Take a moment to remember the soldiers who answered the call of duty on that day. It truly was an epic undertaking.

3 comments:

Steve DiMattia said...

Do you have the new Reebok campaign up there in the hub? "Run Easy." ? You can't swing an old sneaker here in NYC without hitting the ad, on the subway, bus stops, billboards, etc. It's like the anti-Nike.

Agricola said...

Yes, we do have that campaign up here and I've been thinking about how to comment on it.

It is totally the anti-Nike campaign. I think it says something about our culture right now, but I'm not sure what it is, I'm still parsing. I don't think it's negative, but it's not totally positive either.

"Just Do It" was equally ambiguous. From a motivational standpoint it was great -- get off your fat butt and run (be active, whatever). It also could be construed to mean "listen to that Devil on your shoulder" as well and was pretty indicative of the go-go-90s.

Technically speaking you are supposed to run at a pace that permits you to chat -- and that's one of the campaign executions for Reebok: "Run easy: Run at the speed of chat." I don;t really run at the speed of chat, but it is possible to relax other parts of your body and focus energy into your legs and diaphragm.

I also think though that the campaign could be interpreted as no need to really run hard, it's easy to get in shape and that's where I think it's slightly negative. "Just Do It" was botha a call to action (literally and figuratively) as well as a tacit admission that fitness is work, there are all kinds of reasons not to do it, ignore them and just do it . . . I don't know, I'm rambing.

VT Runner said...

I haven't seen the "Run Easy" campaign up here, but based on your posts, I don't like it. It's not a call to action (to Agricola's point on Just Do It), not aspirational, not interesting. The language makes me think they were trying to tap into the feel of Mac's "Think Different" campaign. Unfortunately, it comes off as a half-assed attempt and falls flat. Maybe the imagery helps it out... or maybe this is Reebok being Reebok.