In a non-fictional turn of events, I strangely find myself providing a small reminder at what it takes to run and actually enjoy it. To some it may mean staying slightly less injury free, while others may seek ways to enhance their running (either longer periods or for a faster distance). I am a PT by profession and a long-distance runner as well, and what I provide you here is not everything. I won’t be talking about the fuel you must consume for better output, but rather an abstract overview of what goes on in the background of every run. It is a union of two separate yet connected systems of the body. It is a connection that can only be achieved with a strong baseline for both of them separately before you initiate the eventual merge. The connection that you must coordinate is that of your diaphragmatic breathing in harmony with the pace that you are running in. Everything leads to the other in a long chain of events and it starts from the very beginning – Your core muscles.

Let us now sink deeper into the world of rapid terrestrial locomotion:

1.) The Dance of the Butterfly.

It takes time to master the art of running and technique is crucial to ensure a safe, injury-free run. A run, more specifically, a nice long run, should be as fluid as a calm wave rather than vicious random up and down movements of the upper and lower limbs. It must be calculated with great precision to mimic a dance of butterflies. Swiftly and ever so quietly moving through space and time. You must reach the point of utmost silence, where the stomping tune of your strides fades to nothingness and the only sound that is left for you to hear is your slow, steady breathing. Take two breaths in and two breaths out. Synchronize this with your running pace. You’re getting there. Find your own rhythm.

2.) The Core is where it begins.

This is what is holding you upright. The structures that connect at your waist, hidden deep inside. More specifically, the transverse abdominis. Practice activating it by drawing a line between your prominent hip bones and then tighten. You must master the art of doing this all day with every task that you do. Breathe normally, breathe deeply, breathe. Contract the line, and imagine a miniature version of yourself walking that tight rope. (Planking works, too).

3.) Fly as much as you can.

Focus on your landing. Avoid your toes. Avoid your heels. Stay in the mid-foot range and treat them like glass that you’re too afraid to shatter. Your knees were made to withstand a certain amount of impact. Proper landing can make a world of difference and plays an important role at making your run more energy efficient. Less force on your knees may decrease your chances at getting knee pain. Hence, making you run even further.

4.) The Shield the guards the realms of Legs.

You will never appreciate leg day until you actually try to run after a functional strengthening program. You must activate your hips. Activate your core. Relax your shoulders, look up and watch yourself go. There are many ways to do this, but a combination of all the muscles it takes to get you running works the best at giving you enhanced motor control over them. Your muscles will carry a lot of the impact away, making your run even more enjoyable.

5.) Release.

It’s time to recover. Slow yourself down gradually towards the end until that very last step. You got it. You always had. Listen to your body and give it the rest that it needs for your next running adventure.

You might have realized that at some point in your life, the people you have lost friendship-paths with many eons ago, slowly start making their way back into your life in the most bizarre ways imaginable. You bump into them at a crowded street, or a congested shopping mall, and the clockwork machinery of your brain starts to churn. The person you once lost is now standing a few steps away from you, and almost instantly, you both smile at each other and maybe even nod in approval of each other’s ultimate fate of meeting again at this very place in time, despite the crowd. That is because you have consumed a microscopic pill-form of Time. What you are truly experiencing is the manifestation of being projected into a simultated future where a parallel outcome of your past human experiences exists. Where you are right now is where you started off with. We can’t do anything about you swallowing Time. It is not you revisiting the past. You are stuck in the repetition of time.

Drifting, I woke,

dreaming, I thought,

as I saw you dance amongst the rings of Saturn.

Running, I fell,

lost, can’t tell,

If I can reach you before I start to burn.

Drifting, I woke,

dreaming, I thought,

as I saw you sing above the clouds of Jupiter.

I swam through space,

listening to grace,

until a black hole sunk me deeper than ever.

Drifting, I woke,

dreaming, I thought,

as I saw you hopping swiftly from star to star.

Reaching, I tried,

succeeding, I lied.

The meteor looked nice as it took me far.

Drifting, I woke,

dreaming, I thought,

I saw you in red in the deserts of Mars.

Fading, disappearing,

desperately I tried breathing.

A storm of dust sent me back towards the stars.

Drifting, I soared,

dreaming, no more,

as the blue planet smiled beneath our feet.

“It’s time to go home” I said,

“Not yet” you plead,

“My place is here, until my heart’s final beat.”

“Honey, can you pass me the remote? It is our child. He seems to be malfunctioning.”

Ernie grunted. He looked at the body of his offspring, frozen in his place on the ground, unresponsive. “If this happens once more, i’m taking him back to the shop.” Ernie passed the remote over to his startled wife.

“Oh, Ernie!” Gasped Hilda, in disbelief. “Have you NO feelings for this boy, that is ours?” She started to sob. Tears burning away her circuit boards. She clicked the button labelled RESTART. She clicked again. And again.

“There is NO USE, Hilda! The boy needs maintenance- Of course the remote won’t work! And must I remind you that empathy is not part of our design?!” Yelled Ernie as he slammed his metal fists through the wall, creating a perfectly round opening. “I’m sorry, Hilda, I..I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately.”

The couple stared at their son, as he slowly came back into consciousness.

“Mom? Dad? Wh…what happened? Why am I bleeding?”

This morning, and every other morning, I wake up to the sweet sound of silence- the same silence that tucks me in bed each night for my usual 10 hours of sleep.

On most days, the smell of a Long Black Americano is enough to stimulate my nervous system, but today i’m feeling double Espresso.
The ten shuttered windows and the skylit dome above me release a slow spread of sunlight across the solar-room, ultimately fulfilling the room’s function. They roll up in beautiful flaps of automatic harmony, controlled mostly by voice command. My voice was a bit groggy today, so I performed an “upward” gesture- as if signaling an audience to rise-with my hands facing the backup sensors embedded in the walls.
Across the vast greenery of the yard outside my window, the children play. They are a pair of twins, 10 years old. I watch them with a proud father’s smile, as I gulp down my coffee.
The hall towards my private library is long and narrow, however, the library itself is spacious and well-appointed. The walls are occupied with 10 rows of books, decorating the room from floor to ceiling. I enter the library and I shut the heavy, sound-proof door behind. Silence again. My dearest friend.
I don’t have to go to work today. I don’t have to go to work any other day. As a matter of fact, this is where I spend most of my time. This is the place wh…..
[INSUFFICIENT POWER] [CHECK BATTERY STATUS] [INSUFFICIENT POWER] [CHECK BATTERY STATUS]
I gently remove my virtual reality kit, revealing most of the dank, gloomy, ugliness of my surroundings beneath the goggles as I detach them. I walked across the roach infested apartment, which did not have enough room to swing a cat, and shut the window to minimize the amount of smoke from entering inside to suffocate me further. I return back to my damp mattress on the floor and take out the picture under my pillow. The pain felt raw and fresh, similar to what it felt ten years ago.

I’m out of coffee today, I guess I’ll settle for water. I’ll crawl back to sleep shortly after, while my V.R. kit recharges.

Year: 2090

Memories. The throbbing headache. That stupid godawful dream that kept itself on repeat throughout the whole journey yet now it’s as if it never happened. What was it? What did I come here for?
It’s all trying to paint an image in my head ever since I arrived here, but the more I think about it, the more it turns into fog on stained glass.
While the questions linger deep in  the ‘poor life choices’ center of my brain, I am left with no option but to be on my way in search of anything that will give me answers…

I wonder if laser-shooting cats on hover boards in police uniform exist in the future..

The world is much different now! I must admit, I did expect to find myself lost in a barren wasteland, miles away from anything remotely even considered living. Forced to gnaw through my own flesh and bones. Quenching my thirst with my own blood. Yet here I am, surrounded by skyscrapers that shoot off into the fluorescent blue skies. Towers of gold and diamond structures of any color in the spectrum of light. Emerald pavemented roads with the dark grey asphalt replaced with red rubies.
I must have gotten carried away at some point, as I realized everything was vanishing slowly but surely as I continued to walk.  I must have stepped out of rich people town.
Damn futuristic rich people and their futuristic rich people things. 

THE GOVERNMENT.

Now there’s an establishment I recognized immediately.
Things started to click in my mind.
Papers. Papers…Loads of papers. Paper work..
Did I come here to finish some paperwork? It doesn’t make sense! I have to go in and see for myself.

“h-hello?”

A giant, white, cuboid shaped machine with two black stripes on the top of it turned on after 10 minutes of dead silence:
“Hello TheZeaster. We have been awaiting your arrival.” it replied.

“How do you know my name? Did I come here before to finish some paperwork?”

“Indeed you have, The Zeaster. You came here 100 years ago according to my database. ”

It all came back to me. I traveled this far into the future to collect my finished government paperwork! I can finally go back home!

“Well, are my papers ready?” I asked eagerly.

“No.” replied the government computer.

Dammit. I knew I should have used wasta..