Writing and Running

I like to run laps around the reservoir in Central Park. Each lap is a little over a mile and a half; on a good night, I'll do four or more.* Those runs are heaven--I time it so I go a little before sunset, and the views as I chug around the water remind me why I like New York, and love the park. Stately and ornate CPW and Fifth Avenue buildings loom over the trees and open water, and the way the sunsets hit them can be breathtaking. In springtime, the track is lined with cherry blossoms and tulips. Old-fashioned gaslight lamps turn on at dusk, and it's kind of magical.

Reservoir runners (I'm sure I've photobombed countless
tourist photos like this ponytailed runner.)

At sunset

Not-so-good nights are common for me, though. Maybe it's humid and sticky and mosquitoey; maybe a bunch of confused tourists are blocking the path with their bikes. Maybe it's been raining and there are puddle-jumping-jogger traffic jams. Or maybe it's me: I'm tired after a long day at work; my legs feel weighty and wooden; a bug gets stuck in my eye halfway through and I spend the rest of the jog blinking furiously and grumbling silently.

I can't predict which runs will be good and which will be lackluster; if I'll finish my laps in fifty minutes or an hour and fifteen. It just happens. The thing is, though: I know I won't ever have great runs if I don't also have lots of bad ones. Even on those painful slogs, I'm getting exercise and good practice.

It's the same with writing. Sometimes I sit down and ideas come together and my brain is extra limber and I'm full of rich language. And sometimes I sit down and struggle to pull together fifteen words, and those I plunk out are crappy, cliched, boring, etc. Bad writing sessions, just like blah runs, keep me in shape as a writer; even if they aren't the most pleasant.

The secret to good running is keeping your butt on the track even during bad runs, just like the secret to good writing is keeping your butt in the chair even when the words aren't flowing.

I told you something about writing!

Well, and wearing comfortable pants.
For both.

*More like great night.

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