wise words Peter Sagal on
RUNNING TOWARD MINDFULNESS
by Randy Kambic T
he 5 million faithful listeners of National Public
Radio’s award-winning weekly broadcast Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me! know that 20-year host Peter Sagal infuses wit and wisdom into his views of the news and the world. In his new book, Te Incomplete Book of Running, he brings his trademark humor to a memoir that posits running as a mode of survival—and hope, persistence, practice and love as vehicles of redemption. Sagal’s collection of deeply personal
lessons encompasses the emotional spectrum of running, body image and the special bonding between fellow runners. His exhilarating guide to life suggests we keep moving forward in all ways. He also reflects upon the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he finished moments before two bombs exploded, and explores how run- ning helped him cope with a devastating divorce, depression and more. Sagal is also a playwright, screen-
writer and the host of PBS’ Constitution USA with Peter Sagal when he’s not writing about the recreation he took up in mid-life where he found himself “lost, in a dark place” aſter a personal crisis. He lives near Chicago with his wife, Mara.
26 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition
Aſter becoming a serious runner at nearly 40, when did you realize running had evolved
NaturalAwakeningsOKC.com
into something more than a simple mission
to get healthy? I was concerned about my weight, but mainly I was also concerned about getting older. I ran my first marathon in 2005 as an emotional reaction to growing older, and that’s when it all began to change for me. It struck me in a deep way as something I
wanted to do better. I’ve rarely experienced the classic
“runner’s high”—that endorphin-caused euphoria—although I do believe it exists. Rather, what’s more common is the sense that everything—body, mind—is work- ing in concert, without discomfort, with strength, with ease. To paraphrase a line from Kurt Vonnegut, it’s when “everything is beautiful, and nothing hurts.”
As an advocate of escaping our “digital dystopia” of electronic screens by running outdoors, what’s the benefit
you see in unplugging? I’m a big fan of evolutionary biology. We evolved in very different circumstances than what we are living in now; to be at- tentive to the world and not with a screen in front of us. Te reason we are up on two legs is so that we can look around and think. We’re supposed to ruminate.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
