Papa Nord

Remember Why You Do It

jamesnord:

I have always considered myself a little strange when it comes to running. This is because I really love running. I know a lot of committed runners who do it for one reason or another, but they do not enjoy themselves while they run. I do.

The last 5 months of running have been hard. 6 days a week 50-60 miles a week. I have run through scorching heat, with a broken hand, in the cold rain, through dense fog. I ticked off miles over bridges, around parks, down busy avenues and cobbled side streets. I have dodged children, jumped over dog shit and seen a bum masturbate. I laced up when I was so hungover I did not think I could walk straight, so tired I contemplated sleep running and so sick each step seemed to bring a little closer to some end.

Through it all I started to tire of running. Not only was my body breaking down but I stopped wanting to run. I dreaded it every night and my runs started suffering. Yesterday I took some time before my run to think about why I love it. I has changed by body, brought me closer to people I love and taken places I never knew existed. I tried to remember that I have stumbled upon some talent I never thought I had. I tried to remember to smile.

So I took a sparsely populated F train to Central Park and left my Nike+ at home and I went for a run, smiling and enjoying myself the whole time.  All of the nagging pains I felt over the last few weeks were gone.

Marathon T-Minus 3 Days

 Running can be hard.  Especially when your training and knocking off the 50 to 60 miles a week.  The hardness is good.  It tempers and distinguishes you. Knowing you have the discipline to do hard things tends to come in handy in later life.  You are lucky to be able to run, but the commitment to exercise that gift demonstrates grit and spirit.  Smile about that.

AN UPDATE ON ONE OF MY PASSIONS

DRIFTWOOD/YOUTH LEADERSHIP CORPS

DESCRIPTION: The Youth Leadership Corps provides spiritual, educational, life skills and physical training for children and their families located at Driftwood (now called Lauderhill Point).

The program provides after-school programs, a summer camp, jobs programs, vacation Bible school, Sunday school and church attendance facilitation.  The Youth Leadership Corps has separate venues for primary, middle school, and high school students.

The program’s goals are to help Driftwood children find hope in their lives and to be able to graduate high school and attend college.  All students are provided with school skills assistance, exposed to life opportunities thru a variety of field trips, and taught life and physical skills. Within the program there is 2.5 Club that rewards children for academic achievement.

Spiritual development has included Sunday school and church attendance, vacation Bible school, distribution of Bibles to each child, reading Bible stories and this year, Jam Club. Field trips have included Dolphins games, Universal Studios, the Baptist Christmas pageant, the Nutcracker, the Everglades, Butterfly World, TY Park, the Beach, Movies, Barbeques, Halloween trick and treating and more.  Physical development has included teaching the children to swim, ice skate, dance, canoe, fish, bowl, sing and camping.   Life skills development has included nutrition training, shopping, cooking meals, etiquette, and conflict management.

The program has also have facilitated a summer jobs program for middle school children.  This venue provided 8 children with real working experiences in a variety of settings with church member’s businesses.  The exposure to work situations is another link to the importance of school and allowed them to also experience earning money for tasks completed.  The job’s program has recently been expanded to offer a job’s assistance program for mothers.  Small loans have been made to women for schooling and then they have been placed in work situations.

There is also a Thanksgiving Dinner for Driftwood families and a Christmas party for the children. The Christmas party has historically been held at a workplace and each child is given a present from Santa.  The church provides the children with breakfast each Sunday morning. All children receive a birthday gift and celebration on their birthday, and there is an ongoing education program that links the programs efforts to Driftwood parents.  These education programs are one hour meet and greet sessions where research from Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Zone project is discussed.  Canada’s work has become a standard for elevating people out of the cycle of poverty.

Things To Do In A Southern Sun

jamesnord:

In the South the heat feels different. In New York, the heat is unpleasant but it rarely feels like it is part of you. In the south, the heat enters your body and takes up residence. You wear it as a jacket. When you walk into a cool store or government building you can feel it come off. First the fingers stop burning, then your arms, slowly you feel the sweat starting to dry off your back. There are, however, ways to enjoy the heat.

In the early morning, I would slink out to our pool. We have 6 treated cotton covered lounge chairs set up in a row. By 9AM they have been baking in the sun for a few hours and are hot to the touch. I would lay down slowly on the first chair, often having to arch my bare back so it would not burn. Slowly the heat from the chair diffused into my skin and I lay cat like napping in the sun. When I had transferred all the heat out of the first chair I would move down the line until I had taken the life out of all of them.

Some mornings when I walk out of my apartment on Rivington St I am secretly hoping there will be a line of lounge chairs waiting for me, begging me to take the heat they have been storing all morning. 

James: best piece of prose I’ve seen from you.  well done