During my search to find the deep psychological processes that are part of long endurance races, I found Carl Jung extremely interesting. Especially since he brought spiritualism into psychology. But I would probably discuss this in another post. Anyway... "No one really teaches Jung in psychology classes," Lilach told me. Freud, for his own reasons,... Continue Reading →
Posts
Endurance races and spirituality?
As I search more and more among psychologists and philosophers, I discover more and more material that deals with running and spirituality. I first noticed this when I started reading more of what Timothy Olson says, lives, and does. Slowly more and more information accumulated. I first tried to understand what Spirituality is, because me... Continue Reading →
This elusive feeling of flow
Walking the alleys of endurance psychology, the term "flow" appeared many times. Flow, a feeling many runners mention to describe some of the special moments in this experience called running. Flow is a state of consciousness in which a person becomes fully immersed in activity. Positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes flow as a state of... Continue Reading →
What’s the story of elite runners? #1 Krupicka, Robbins, Sabbe
As I start my journey to learn about what I describe as “what the race does to you”, I try to figure out what these processes could be. Do they occur? Why? Are there any rules? What can philosophers, psychologists, fellow runners offer that may shed some light on this?. I started by asking: What's... Continue Reading →
This Zen moment is a beginning of a new journey
It happened in the 5th checkpoint of “the long march” during the Namibrace2021. After roughly 160 km or more of this multi day, self supported race, we kicked off the long march, a 68 or so km towards the red dunes of the Namib desert. This fifth checkpoint is also where you can stop for... Continue Reading →
Story about love and nature
"You see", she says, holding the metal fence, "where our house stood after the war. I remember in the front I had a garden… What is a garden, maybe even just a meter by meter. But I loved it so much. Mom would give me a few pennies and I remember going to the market... Continue Reading →
My Namibrace 2021 – great race, amazing people
When entering the ultramarathon experience I could tell it serves so many of my needs. Spending many hours in nature, improving my physical status (well... not always :-)), and a place when the mind cleans up and mental challenges are as exciting as the physical ones. After several races I was fortunate to have the... Continue Reading →
Counting down the days: What about fear…
A couple of days ago, I got a T-shirt from friends, suggesting one way of looking at the ultramarathon psychological process. Although I do not agree with the description of most of the process as "suffering", it made me think of other processes you go through while preparing towards a challenge. In many aspects of... Continue Reading →
Sliding down an iceberg… or not?
You probably know that feeling, when you push hard to achieve something you really want, and then something happens that pulls out the plug on your efforts? You are lost with zero energy, and your finger nails try to hang up to a dream but you are sliding down, as is you're on the slope... Continue Reading →
When I am 86 y/o
Part of my job (really) is to look far into the future, and try to figure out the world needs, how people will live, the GIGA forces that will shape the human environment. Looking far provides clarity and perspective, and also the space to assume nothing is impossible. In these games, the year of 2050... Continue Reading →