Are Flowers Only Red with Green Leaves?

Some of you know that I go to a chiropractor to keep me aligned and in good health. Each time I visit, he has handouts that discuss things that he thinks are important to pass on to his patients. He truly believes that people through chiropractic can be well and stay well without the outside intervention from dangerous drugs and surgery. While I never eschew “regular” physicians and only go to alternative practitioners, I have found that I have had no injuries since I started going to a chiropractor almost 10 years ago. I do believe that an optimally functioning spine and nervous system is not a bad thing when I am logging so many miles.

This week, he had a story that I thought I would share with you.

A little boy went to his first day of school. He took out some crayons and he started to draw. He drew colors all over the paper, because a paper filled with colors is what he wanted to see. The teacher said “What are you doing, young man?” “Drawing flowers” he said. “It’s not time for art yet,” the teacher said. “And anyway, flowers are green and red. Everyone knows that. There’s a time and a place for everything, and there are certain ways certain things are supposed to be. So repeat after me: Flowers are red and leaves are green, and there is no reason to see them any other way than they have always been seen.”

But the little boy was confused. He said “There are so many colors in a rainbow. There are so many colors in the morning sun. There are so many colors in one single flower. I want to use all of them.” “You are a sassy young lad,” the teacher scolded. “Repeat after me: Flowers are red and leaves are green, and there is no reason to see them any other way than they have always been seen.”

The teacher put him in a corner and told him it was for his own good. “You won’t come out until you get it right, and respond like you should” she warned.

The little boy got frightened, sitting in that corner all by himself. Lonely thoughts filled his head. He finally went to the teacher and said what he knew he was supposed to say “Flowers are red and leaves are green, and there is no reason to see them any other way than they have always been seen.”

Time went by, as it always seems to do, and the little boy and his family moved to another town. He started his first day in his new school. On that first day, the smiling new teacher said “Isn’t drawing flowers fun? There are so many colors a flower could possibly be, so let’s see if we can use every single one!” The little boy drew neat and orderly rows of red flowers with green leaves. The teacher asked him why he didn’t want to use more colors. “There are so many colors in that box of crayons! Won’t it be fun to see how many of them you can use?” The boy was astounded. He could use all the colors? He could make yellow flowers with purple leaves? He could color the sky green! He grinned widely as he reached for the box. This was going to be his best picture ever.

When I read this it made me think about all the advice I have ever read about running. There seem to be so many rules and criteria for establishing a training regimen. There are certain prescribed ways of stretching, pacing, etc. We, as runners, are told how to do almost everything. I began to think that isn’t this just like the teacher in the story? Aren’t we all being told how to draw a flower and what color it has to be? Shouldn’t we try to find a way to get back to why we started running in the first place?

I have decided that I am going to escape that jungle of green and red flowers. I am going to try and run for the sheer joy of being out there on the road and experiencing the wind in my face with no real goal other than pleasure. Running gives you the chance to feel completely at one with what you are doing, to know you are strong and able to control your destiny at least for the moment, and to gain a sense of pleasure independent of results.

I know that to get to the starting line and to achieve the goals we set for our racing that we need to log certain amounts of miles and complete certain work outs. But, I also know that trying to adhere strictly to a plan can also lead to injury and disappointment if we miss our goals. During this process we tend to forget about the happiness we feel when we are out there on the road. We take the fun out of running. So, I am asking you to add joy back into your running. Take a day and just run with no particular goal in mind. Just go out there and remind yourself why you started running in the first place. You may find that flowers are not always red and leaves are not always green.

Here are my training totals:
Mar. 28 – 10.20 miles (1:32:58, 9:06 pace)
Mar. 29 – 6.10 miles (54:49, 9:09 pace)
Mar. 30 – 4.50 miles (36:30, 8:07 pace) – Yasso 800s
Apr. 1 – 5.20 miles (39:53, 7:40 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr. 3 – 11.30 miles (1:38:14, 8:41 pace)

Total Miles: 37.30 miles
2010 YTD Miles: 417.40 miles