Choose Strong
For Tim.
I had a clif bar and water to prepare for a two hour run,
before heading out Sat morning. The first six miles on
asphalt felt good. The next three on gravel trails was
tolerable. The best part came after nine miles. I was able
to do 4i5o and muster up some speed. I learnt from my races
that these last miles were really where the battle would be
fought, when the feet and joints started to hurt and the
posterior chain shortened. I could rely on the glutes and
feel them launching my body off the ground. Benefits
from weight-lifting could finally be felt. In the end, I was
able to finish strong with a 2i3o sprint.
After Tim's Jiu-Jitsu, I borrowed and watched the movie
Sanshiro Sugata (姿三四郎) from the director Akira Kurosawa
and it brought back a flood of memory. I must be about 8
and in elementary school and TVs were just starting to appear.
Around supper, neighbors would gather in front of a 14 inch, black-white
screen, mounted on a makeshift pedestal, to spend a pleasant evening. We watched a series of the
same name and I became a big fan of Sugata and judo, and
bought the book afterwards. Translated to Chinese, the novel
was paperback in three volumes and I enjoyed reading them
many times before leaving for college. The story was based
on historical events when judo was eclipsing traditional
jiu-jitsu styles in Japan in the 1880s. How interesting I
crossed path with Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, which outshines judo
on the global stage after 100 years!
Tim and Mom went to Mongolian Hotpot to celebrate Father's
Day and, at my pleading, brought back a cheese burger with
fries. Since I came to the Bay Area, that restaurant had become
our choice over all run-of-the-mill Chinese eateries. After the last Mother's Day,
however, I decided no to go back because that meal made me
feel like a sucker. Their food is still good, but I am a sensitive
and self-respecting person. I'm by no means poor but a
$100+ hotpot for three felt like a rip-off and as if the place was
insulting my intelligence and challenging my discipline. (This reminded me of
Taleb going for Nick's pizza after his Michelin supper.) In
comparison, the burger cost seven bucks and tasted like
heaven. It's not super healthy, of course, but what's an
active life style good for if not occasional indulgences?
Along with the movies, at the library, I picked up "The
Catcher In The Rye" which I requested after reading about it
in Murakami's "Norwegian Wood" which I read in turn to
quiet my mind before the race two weeks ago. I went through
a few chapters and it felt good. Let's see how much I can
learn from it.
What's an active life style good for if not occasional indulgences? " +1，I concur 100%.
"The Catcher In The Rye" : Sounds familiar.
I seldom dine out these days:)
Happy Father's Day!