The Eagle Claw and the Cuckoo Lady

When I was a small kung-fu warrior student, my style was the Eagle Claw.

Now that I'm old and I started running I found another bird to inspire me: The road runner.
The road runner is actually a cuckoo and it's the fastest one of the flying birds.

Proud Eagle Claw Warrior

Cuckoo Road Runner

Yep, you got the picture...





When I'm about to go running some people look at me as if I'm cuckoo and they ask me: "Why are you running? Do you want to lose weight?", and then I try to explain that I'm not trying to lose weight (because then I'll disappear) and that it's good for my health. In most cases they avoid any other comment, they just give me this look:

A month ago when I was about to start my afternoon run a middle aged woman who was feeding her goats (yes, goats...I'm in a village, got a problem with that?) told me after we said hello:

"I've seen you doing that. Why are you doing this? Do you want to lose weight?"

I patiently said that it's good for you and she asked me again :
"Is it good for the legs?". I said yes, not wanting to end up in a pointless conversation and then she asked me how much I run.

"Now I'm running for half an hour but you start slowly, first walking, then running"
And the old lady answers:
"Maybe I should do it, too"

I said, sure, why not, have a good afternoon and started running.
A couple of days later  I saw the goat lady with a pair of running shoes on and her normal clothes-skirt above the knee and all-  walking at the same path I was running. I passed her by, I waved hello, she gave me a big smile...


Last week for the first time I went for an hour long run. I started my run with a song I love:





"They tell me if I leave the circle I'll get lost, in it's boundaries I should only wander, and the world is a wild beast and when it bites I'd better be quiet. And when they worry I might go crazy they tell me to hide somewhere and cry and to remember that I'm way too small to change anything.
But I, with a wild proud dance, I'll fly like an eagle above the sorrow
I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to get scared...
They tell me that if I go high I'll get dizzy, I'd better crawl with them in the mud and if I want to see more I can just stare at a mirror...
I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to get scared..."(sounds way better in Greek, but you get the picture)

My first one hour run went great. I ran a total of 11K.

Don't miss that video. You'll watch the Bald Eagle's ritual courtship:
The two eagles lock their claws at high altitudes and tumble in a free fall to break apart just before they hit the ground. They mate for life.

Yesterday, I went for another hour-long run. It was a really bad one... While I was dragging my feet, my legs hurting and my chest pounding I was wondering why the hell am I doing this to myself and I just wanted to stop. Then I remembered all the advice from real and virtual runners: All runners have bad days, don't make this stop you, the next one will be better.
So, I kept going and to my surprise I was dragging my feet faster than I thought.

Every time I'm about to go running I'm thinking that I'm training for my race day in Chios. While I run, though, I'm thinking "this is your race day" and I just run like there is no tomorrow.


When I told some guy that I'm training for a race he asked me "are you good enough to win?". I tried to explain than it's my first one, so I'm just running for the experience. In fact, I don't think I'll ever win a race. He asked me "why would you do it, then?".

Because every race is a race against myself.