Welcome back Kotter!

Hey blog, hey spectators,

I went without running for four days. I ended up in the desert of losing-my-mind. Running is absolutely essential to my daily balance. Mentally, emotionally, physically. Without running for a few days, I feel caged, clammy, antsy, and off-kilter. I could go out without food longer than I could go without running. What did i do to past the time? Bow-drill practice mostly. Primitive skills is my new hobby. And a friend enlightened me to how I can connect it to my senior project. Primitive humans ran before there were horses and cars. If they packed light, they could run. If they packed heavy, they walked.
I just watched a great movie called The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story. The film follows one San tribe of the Kalahari as they traditionally hunt an ungulate named kudu. Some are still primitive hunters, using expert tracking skills and poison tipped arrows to wound animals. Then they literally run the animals to death. For hours or whole days, hunters run and track the wounded animal. They say, "When you feel kudu with you, you are now controlling its mind." Assume the identity of the animal you chase. Think like it. Be like it.
This movie provides a great connection between running and primitive living. Another book that explores the evolution of human running as compared to other animals is Bernd Heinrich's "Why We Run." This book is a fascinating exploration of endurance physiology and evolutionary biology. More on this later.
Oh. I almost forgot. On a run the other day, inspired by the book, I thought of these word: The lion chases the gazelle. Lion is chasing life. So is the gazelle. When I run, I chase life.