From
the Rage Archives
Truth
is found through devotion,
and intensity is the only true measure of devotion.
The
Rage revisits the Penguin - April 2002
Subject:
A Headline We Would Love To See: Penguin Seeks the Truth? Date:
26 May 00
At 10Ktruth, we emphasize
running hills as
the foundation of improving running perfomance. So I read
with great interest John "The Penguin" Bingham's article in
Runner's World called "Buzzard Bait Hill." I thought it would
make for a great "before" story of a jogger who got serious
about becoming a runner. But, I knew is was not to be, as soon
as he signed off with his trademark "waddle on, friends."
Now don't get me
wrong. I have a lot of respect for someone who got off the couch
like he has done and is totally happy with running in his own
comfort zone. I would just like to see the 'ol penguin just
seek some Truth, that's all. The ending that I would love to
see is to have him launch into a tirade at the end of his struggle
up that hill at the finish, just barely in front of the course
sweeper. I would love to see him tear his t-shirt off at the
finish (the one that says "I'm slow. I know. Get over it") wad
it up and spike it into the ground and scream something like
"I'm slow. I know. I WILL GET OVER IT" and proceed to run down
the hill and run it again.
When I read articles
like this, I think there is an assumption that seeking inner
peace, taking in nature, or dealing with the reality of who
you are means doing it at a pedestrian pace. I think a good
angle that Bingham could pursue for his readers would be a year
long series of his own personal effort to improve his speed
and the discoveries he learns about himself along the way. I
bet that he could get some real Truth down the hall in Ed Eyestone's
office or, maybe give Owen Andersen a call (who used to write
"The Fast Lane" column for RW) and ask him to be his personal
coach. He could describe to his readers what it's like to run
six 800's or a dozen 400's and, yes, weekly trips up Buzzard
Bait Hill a whole new perspective. I think that would be an
inspiration to his readers to really discover that they're not
only O.K. afterall, but they can run faster, too. And I'll bet
he would cover that two miles up that hill a lot faster than
37:40. Waddle on, uh, And that's The Truth, my friends. - Rage
