Running and Painting

In his book, Running and Being: The Total Experience, Dr. George Sheehan quotes Sir Herbert Read: "Art is an escape from chaos; movement ordained in numbers; mass confined by measure; matter seeing the rhythm of life" (110). According to Dr. Sheehan, running fulfills that definition. Dr. Sheehan also states, "You could almost believe Read was watching runners while he wrote that definition" (110). This definition describes how many runners feel when they run.

Running has many similarities to other art forms such as painting. Both running and painting require some talent and natural ability. Children run for the sheer joy of movement. According to Nelson in his Advanced Running Book, "This [running] is a purely animal pleasure derived from the kinesthetic feeling of speed, power and natural freedom. Anyone who is physically fit likes to run. All over the world, millions of people run for fun. They run like children, for sheer joy" (14).

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Loading is a misleading term. Runners do not stuff themselves with carbohydrates. They eat about the same amount as they normally do but alter the proportions to increase the amount of carbohydrates. Not all nutritional researchers think carbohydrate loading is a sound practice. Aside from those who practice carbohydrate loading, most runners eat much as other people do. Runners do need to be concerned about liquids, however: "A loss of as little as a quart can slow you down, and losing twice this amount can do real damage. It's important, therefore, to replace fluids promptly" (Fixx 166). The mental aspects of the art of running are more subjective. Jim Fixx wrote, "Few psychological frontiers are more fascinating than the changes that occur in your mind as a result of running" (13). Many running writers agree. For example, in his article, "Mind Over Miles" in Runner's World, Jerry Lynch wrote about the inspirational aspects of goal setting. He stated, "When you adopt this attitude the most important goal becomes the internal, spiritual quest which finds fulfillment in the here and now, on a daily basis. The arrival is nothing compared with the journey" (88). Most painters would agree that the internal,
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Approximate Word count = 2119
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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