Running for Buddha in Berlin

A New Personal Best!

2011-12-14T11:40:00.001+01:00

On Sunday I took part in the 70th Plänterwald 10k and ran my fastest 10k so far. I was also very happy to have achieved third place in my age group (out of twelve).

Summer is nearly over

2011-09-21T09:33:00.000+02:00

And autumn is coming. I have had a lot going on over the last few months, including a month of meetings and conventions in England. In the meantime, building work has begun on the new Buddhist centre at long last, which is very satisfying. I am slowly working my way through the Oxford History of Western Music by Richard Taruskin (in five volumes!), which I bought in June and is a fascinating journey.

The pope is visiting Berlin. Here is the view from my kitchen window:

Get Stoned in Luckenwalde and another Half Marathon in Potsdam

2011-06-08T19:10:00.002+02:00

Last Thursday was Ascension Day, a public holiday in Germany. After leading an evening session of the Foundation course at Buddhistisches Tor on Thursday evening I took a train from Berlin Central Station and joined Claudia in the garden at Luckenwalde for the start of a couple of weeks holiday. Friday was the start of the Turmfest in Luckenwalde, a three-day festival during which the town centre is closed off to host a fun fair and numerous stands offering assorted refreshments, and three stages present live music until late into the night. On Friday Claudia and I paid our four euros each and enjoyed first of all the music of pop band Stella Nova, and then the country and western of Uncle Lu, which was fascinating more on account of the couple of dozen square dancers in front of the stage than the music. The highlight of the evening however was Get Stoned, a really competent Stones cover band from Berlin.

On Sunday I ran the Potsdam Schlößer half marathon again. This year it was even hotter than last, maybe 28°c. I had expected to run a faster time than last year, but it didn’t happen. I finished in just under two hours. Three minutes before the start, the commentator encouraged all participants to remember a runner, who died during last year’s race with a minute’s silence. The silence lasted literally about five seconds before the commentator started talking again. I suspect that part of the intention of this remembrance was to make this year’s participants aware of the potential risks. With about three-quarters of the course behind me I witnessed a man being helped to the grass at the side of the road, clearly suffering under the conditions. I asked if he required help, to which he assented, so I ran a hundred meters back along the course to a water station and explained what had happened and the helper called someone on his mobile phone. Hopefully all went well.

My time was 1:58:59, three minutes slower than last year. I finished 784th overall (compared to 795th last year), 71st in my age class (70th last year)

More Music and preparations for Potsdam

2011-06-01T17:42:00.000+02:00

Since I last wrote something I've continued training for this Sunday's half marathon in Potsdam. Last year it was hot and I was not really fit so it was a tough run. This year I feel reasonably fit but the temperature is expected to be around 28°, so it might again be pretty hard going. We'll see...

After the pleasing discovery of Takemitsu at the Berlin Philharmonic the other week I have found another classical composer from the East: Tan Dun, whose Ghost Opera is a fascinating piece. Performed by the Kronos Quartet, it can be seen on You Tube, where his Internet Symphony can also be found.

Wesak Celebrations and a Trip to the Berlin Philharmonic

2011-05-23T21:44:00.010+02:00

On Saturday we celebrated the anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment at Buddhistisches Tor Berlin, beginning with a morning of meditation and mantra chanting. After lunch Vajragupta, who was visiting from Worcester in England, gave an uplifting and very personal talk on generosity. This was followed by some readings from the Buddhist scriptures about the Buddha's path to enlightenment and we concluded the celebration with a puja. Some of us rounded off the day with a visit to the Berlin Philharmonic to see Yutaka Sado conduct From me flows what you call time for five percussionists and orchestra by Takemitsu and Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. Whatever one might think about the music, there is no doubting the Berlin Philharmonic as one of the best orchestras around. Not that I claim to be at all experienced in this field, but I reckon they're a pretty tight combo.

I really enjoyed both works which were very different from each other. Takemitsu's piece is a very contemplative and was performed with a pleasant bit of theatre, as the five percussionists made their way onto the stage shortly after the start of the piece from different directions, each playing finger cymbals and wearing different brightly coloured jackets - the colours of the five Jinas in the five Buddha mandala. But I was most deeply moved by the Shostakovich piece, in which a clear tension in the music reflects the terrible tightrope which the composer walked throughout his working life, but especially under Stalin's reign of terror, between conforming to the demands of the Soviet regime while at the same time being true to his own creative convictions. And all that for 8 Euros - last minute tickets on the podium directly behind the orchestra. Great to be able to see the conductor's enthusiasm and gestures from the front.

Here is a video of parts of the rehearsal for the concert

The Olympic Stadium at last

2011-05-12T14:15:00.000+02:00

Last Friday I returned from an eight day solitary retreat in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the edge of the Müritz National Park. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, meditating, studying, walking, running, reflecting and just doing nothing. It wasn't wholly comfortable the whole time being alone with nothing but my own mind, but always interesting. I spent a lot of time reading Wisdom Beyond Words by Sangharakshita, commentaries on some of the potentially bewildering Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, based on some seminars he led several years ago.

After a couple of weeks neglect on account of being very busy I also returned to training again while on retreat, but I guess I was still not as fit as I needed to be in order to run the Berlin BIG 25 on Sunday as well as I might otherwise have done. Having not participated in the event in the previous two years because of illness, it was a relief at least to be able to start this year. By the halfway point however, my lack of training became apparent and from then on it was a real effort to keep going, my pace dropped dramatically, and I became conscious of continuously being overtaken by other runners. Still, the effort proved well worth it with my arrival in the amazing Olympic stadium, where Jessie Owens won three gold medals in 1936. The recently refurbished stadium is a really impressive work of architecture, a temple to sport.

Here are my race statistics:
Duration: 2:13:04
Pace: 5:20 / kilometer
Field Placement: 1445 / 4048
Age Group Placement: 182 / 498
Gender Placement: 1290 / 3077

Relaxing in Luckenwalde

2011-04-18T22:09:00.000+02:00

After my illness last weekend it was a great feeling to get back to running yesterday during a restful weekend with Claudia in Luckenwalde. The sunshine and warm temperatures were an added bonus to the pleasure of getting out into the country for a short break, and doing a little physical work, enjoying the sights and sounds of the natural world, as well as reading and listening to music. After an early breakfast on Saturday we went for a stroll through the woods for an hour, and then I mowed the grass and turned the compost heap. Claudia and I set up the swinging garden seat after lunch and while reading my book on the life and works of Mozart we were joined by a beautifully marked green woodpecker who hopped back and forth a few feet in front of us for five minutes. As well as finding time to listen to some of Mozart's piano sonatas, I enjoyed an hour's snooze, before meditating outside in the still warm early evening. The garden is looking particularly spring-like with the opening of the daffodils I planted in the autumn.

Sickness, Celebrations and the Mara Marathon

2011-04-14T19:03:00.001+02:00

Last Thursday, less than a week after the half marathon I was sick with a stomach bug and couldn't eat anything, which of course meant I couldn't train either. Since yesterday I feel I've got my strength back and look forward to training again at the weekend.

WG Chintamani 2011

On Saturday my community hosted the annual Triratna Day celebration to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Triratna Buddhist Community (formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) 44 years ago. We held the celebration in the community because we also wanted to mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of our community, named 'Chintamani', the 'Wish-Fulfilling Jewel'. Of the original four members, three of us are still living together and we have been joined by three more, who see living together on the basis of our common spiritual ideals as supportive to our individual spiritual practice.

The Berlin half marathon seems a long time ago already. While having a look at the clips of it on YouTube I discovered the this clip of a somewhat different half marathon in Kenya, won by Geoffrey Kipsang, who also won in Berlin.

Photos from Sunday's run

2011-04-05T23:14:00.000+02:00

Today I saw my brother Llion and my cousin Pauline off to the airport. They'd been in Berlin for almost a week and it was a delight to be able to spend some time with them, much of it in restaurants and cafes of various sorts. On Sunday they followed the runners along different parts of the route, and I was very happily surprised to see them at Ku'damm, a little over half way around the course, where Llion took the following sequence of photos.

Another Personal Best

2011-04-04T13:18:00.000+02:00

Despite not achieving my goal of running under 1 hour and 45 minutes I was pleased to have run a personal best time of 1:45:29 in yesterday's Berlin half marathon. The first really warm and sunny weekend made the going tough for the participants, and I have to admit to struggling in the blazing sun. I made a point of stopping at every refreshment point to tank up with water, which also slowed me down a bit, and I also set off at an overly ambitious tempo. It's my third Berlin Half and each time I've improved my time. How long I can carry on like that will be interesting to see. Next year I'll be in a new age group, so I will have the advantage of being one of the youngest in the over-55s. Even if I don't improve my time, maybe I'll improve my placing in my age group.

Here are the statistics with last year's in brackets):

net time: 1:45:29 (1:46:35)
10 km time: 47:59 (50:12)
overall position: 2929 (4408)
position (age group) 291 (442)

4:59 per km (5:03)
average speed: 12.00 km/h(11.88)

And now I'm looking ahead to the Berlin Big 25 in five weeks time, which I've entered twice before, but never actually run due to ill health.

After the Retreat the Countdown has Begun

2011-03-28T21:58:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I returned from a refreshing weekend retreat that I co-led with Karunabandhu in Strodehne an der Havel. In all nineteen of us stayed from Friday until Sunday afternoon at the youth house and enjoyed a peaceful, as well as a quite intensive time together. The theme of the weekend was generosity and everyone contributed to the harmonious and pleasant atmosphere, and wholeheartedly joined in the programme of meditation, communication exercises, talks, discussions, ritual and periods of silence. There was of course time to go for walks and explore the surrounding countryside too. The weather was pleasant enough too.

With the half marathon now less than a week away I am reducing my training quite considerably, but I did go for a brief interval training on Saturday: 7 x 400 meters. Just a couple more runs before the big day on Sunday. I'd like to beat my personal best time of course, and ideally I'll run under 1 hour and 45 minutes. We'll see...

Meditating for Japan

2011-03-18T14:17:00.001+01:00

This morning I got up early to get to the Buddhist centre for 6.30. I suspect many others around the world have also experienced a sense of helplessness in the face of last week's earthquake and its consequences. While meditating last Tuesday I had the idea of offering a meditation at the Buddhist centre exactly a week after the earthquake struck. So I lead a Metta Bhavana meditation this morning at 6.45am ,in which the seventeen of us,who turned up systematically worked to develop loving kindness towards all beings, and thereby also gain a sense of solidarity with all beings, even though there might be little we can do that will be of direct help to those suffering the terrible effects of the earthquake.

Reading about Running among other Things

2011-03-05T12:02:00.000+01:00

Claudia bought me a book at the start of the week by Haruki Murakami called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which I am consuming avidly at every opportunity. Even though Claudia gave me the German edition, I am getting through it at a good pace. I have to admit that I had never heard of the author before, but am interested in learning more of his work, although I guess the subject matter will be different. What I Talk About... is a collection of reflections and memoires about his life, especially his daily running, accounts of his first marathon and a 100 km ultra marthon, and how all this relates to his work as a novelist. From what I have read so far, he seems a very 'sympathisch' (what DO we say in English? Likeable?) person and I can relate to a lot of what he writes about running. (Photo of Haruki Murakami by wakarimasita of Flickr)

Unfortunately I don't make as much time in my daily lif e as I would sometimes like to have, to read as much as I sometimes want to. One of the benefits of teaching English at the TAZ (a German daily newspaper) has been the regular reading of English books, which we discuss each week. Our most recent book is The Other Hand by Chris Cleeve about a young Nigerian refugee, which is also gripping, though in a completely different way. Over the years that I have been teaching this group, we have read a wide range of books, from The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to The White Tiger and The Room.

A Cold Spell

2011-02-22T23:04:00.000+01:00

Training is continuing to go well, despite the return of freezing temperatures., dropping to -12° at nights. So far we've been spared the snow though. At the weekend I took repossession of the pulse meter, which had to have a new battery and a service. The last time it worked anything like reliably was during the marathon last September, and even then it played up right at the start, so that I ran the whole time not really knowing my time. Of course I now realise I've probably been training too fast, after today's easy run at 70% of my maximum heart rate. Actually I don't believe it is possible to run that slowly. I always end up running at around 75 or 80 %.

One observation from today's run: I regularly pass people pushing their babies in prams and wheelchairs, sometimes men (most of whom don't look at all happy with their task), and sometimes women (who also look pretty unimpressed). What I particularly noticed today is that almost all the women were talking into their mobile phones. One could speculate on the effects of this phenomenon, and on the reasons for it. But not today. I need to go to bed.

A Week at Padmaloka

2011-02-17T23:58:00.000+01:00

Last week I was on retreat at Padmaloka, the retreat centre near Norwich in East England where I lived and worked between 1994 and 2000. I have been back several times since I moved to Berlin and my retreat this time was as ever a joy. There was plenty of meditation and discussion on the topic of the Imagination, raised by a paper by Subhuti, recently circulated among members of the Triratna Order entitled Re-Imagining the Buddha. During the week I also managed to keep up my training schedule and avoided getting ill, with the help of Master Lam's Chi Kung 'cold prevention strategy', which I learnt from his book, The Way of Energy, from which I learnt chi kung several years ago, and was the source of inspiration to practice it over many years. Since learning this form of chi kung incidentally, I stopped having the regular problems with my back, from which I had suffered over many years, probably on account of simply becoming more aware of my body and its movements than I had been before.

Since arriving back home I have had a very full round of meetings and appointments. There has been some excitement at Buddhistisches Tor around the arrival of a film crew from ARD who have been making a documentary for showing in the autumn. While leading the meditation on Sangha evening on Tuesday, which was filmed, I was very aware of the opportunity that unusual experiences give us to experience our responses. Such occasions prevent us from falling into our habitual ways of being and so we more clearly experience the tendencies of the mind, usually tending towards one of the extremes of aversion or desire. Apprently they have been awarded prizes for other documentaries, for example one called "Gut sein auf Probe - Ein Egoist engagiert sich" (Good on test - an egoist commits himself).

A Marathon in a week

2011-02-01T23:10:00.001+01:00

The first week of my training for the half marathon went well. I ran 40 km in the course of the week - which is more or less the same as I ran in September in one day. This morning I ran another 12 km and noticed towards the end that my hair had frozen, or more correctly, the sweat in my hair had frozen. When I touched it I was reminded of the time I stopped coming my hair, thirty something years ago and developed natural dreadlocks. I was also reminded of my winter cycling tour in Dorset in January 1991, when my beard froze and I took on the appearance of an arctic explorer, and thereby attracting a little attention when stopping to visit shops for refreshments.

Anyway, the training feels good, despite the cold, and I am looking forward to running in the Berlin half marathon for the third time in a row.

This is part of the course I ran on Sunday in Luckenwalde

Getting well again

2011-01-22T21:13:00.001+01:00

Last week I had a cold and on the way back from Britain my ears seemed to explode. For much of the time since then I have felt as if I was underwater. Not a very comfortable feeling, although my hearing wasn't really affected. This morning things have improved considerably and ts my ears are almost back to normal.

In the week I was kept busy, arriving back from my trip to Britain to a full week of meetings and events at Buddhistisches Tor as well as teaching English. After unpacking on Monday morning I led the lunchtime meditation at the Buddhist centre, but decided against attending the inter-religious meeting at the Town Hall in the afternoon to which I had been invited, on account of feeling unwell. On Tuesday I gave a talk at Sangha Evening on the Four Sangrahavastus, or Means of Unification. We intend to dedicate each of the next four years at Buddhistisches Tor to each of the four Sangrahavastus, starting this year with dana, or generosity. Next week Dhramapriya will give a talk on dana, the first of four talks on the subject to be held during the year.

On Wednesday I gave an English lesson, attended my chapter meeting, a weekly meeting of Order Members in Berlin, and spent a very pleasant evening having a meal with members of the year-long Buddhism foundation course that I led last year and ended in November. Thursday was a full day too, beginning with two English lessons, after which I spent an hour photocopying material for the new foundation course I was starting in the evening. After photocopying and before the course in the evening I had a meeting of the centre's Teaching Team. Friday and in between my round of appointments this week I managed to catch up with a few e-mails and telephone calls. I also managed to find time to buy a new netbook and begin finding my way around it. All in all a very satisfying and enjoyable week. All being well I will be fully fit and well by Monday to begin my training for the half marathon.

New Year Plans

2011-01-17T20:01:00.000+01:00

It has been a long time since I last wrote, and I have had a couple of people expressing their wish for me to carry on writing something here every now and again, so here I am again.

I had a bit of difficulty getting back into my running shoes after the marathon - not just because I had caught a cold - more probable was the fact of not really having a big goal to aim at any more. And then the wether broke, as well as having a heap of other things demanding my time. So I kept the training ticking over, and fully intended to run the Twin Piers 10K race from Llandudno to Colwyn Bay last Saturday, but went down with another cold from which I am still not a hundred percent recovered.

Last night I returned home from a ten day visit to Britain, where I first attended the Triratna European Chairs Assembly, a week-long meeting for Chairs of Triratna Buddhist Centres, held this time at Taraloka near Whitchurch. At the end of an inspiring week of meetings, discussion and practise, I spent a weekend with my dad in Old Colwyn. He has run the Twin Piers race many time over the past thirty years and I had hoped that we might run it together this time. However, by the time I announced to him my plan to run it this year, he had already decided not to participate again.

As it turned out, I am not too disappointed that my health let me down again, as the weather was incredibly wild on Saturday and the stormy winds and rain would have made the going really tough. Instead I enjoyed a pleasant couple of days with various family members slowly getting better, and being fed extraordinarily good grub! (The sausages were of course vegetarian.)

At Liverpool Airport I was stopped at security and had 250 ml of Marmite confiscated. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about it in my rucksack, and even so, I probably wouldn't have thought about it contravening the rules. I tried pointing out that it isn't exactly a liquid, to which the security person gently answered, it is a cream. I am happy that I packed the two large jars (500 ml) in my checked-in rucksack, which should keep me going for a couple of months anyway.

The flight played havoc with my ears on account of my cold, and they have not yet readjusted, but they are getting there.slowly sorting themselves out.

Next week I start my ten-week training plan for the half marathon again. I would like to cut a couple of minutes off my best time from last year, when I run in the Berlin Half Marathon at the start of April.

One month later

2010-10-27T23:24:00.000+02:00

A very quick check-in one month after the big day. I did get ill, three days after the run. I guess that my resistance was low after the strain of the race, after which it was a good hour before I could get in the shower and change out of the rain soaked gear. Not surprising really that I should catch a cold, which then dragged on in the form of a slightly irritating cough for a couple of weeks. So I didn't get to attempt my personal best 10km two weeks after the marathon that I had planned. It was actually three weeks before I managed to go out for a run again. Next planned race is a ten km in Wales in January. More deetails to follow. I have also registered for the Berlin Half Marathon on 3rd April next year, though I declined the invitation to register for next year's marathon.

Here is a photo of me close to the end of the marathon running through the Brandenburg Gate.

Two Days Later

2010-09-28T16:23:00.002+02:00

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and congratulations via e-mail, comments to this blog or Facebook. Also a big thanks again to all who sponsored me and helped me to raise money for the new Buddhist centre. (It is still of course possible, just click here!).

Two days after the event I feel surprisingly fit and well. It rained during virtually the whole time, which may indeed have been better than if it had been sunny. Apart from soggy feet, it helped to prevent me from dehydrating. To avoid this hazard I also drank litres of water and 'power drinks' at every refreshments station along the way, where I likewise consumed countless bananas.

Despite all the fears and expectations of hitting 'the wall' around the 30 or 35 km mark I experienced nothing of the sort, which in a wierd kind of way is something of a disappointment! Did I do something wrong? Apart from the super sense of satisfaction of having fulfilled this goal and of having helped raise money for the new Buddhist centre, I am really impressed by the accuracy of the training plan that I followed. The plan was to run the course in 3 hours and 47 minutes and came from 'the book'. In the event I ran it in 3:46:47, thirteen seconds within the limit. Similarly I completed my half marathon in April around half a minute in time. It was helpful to have a pulse meter which helped me to maintain a fairly constant pace, and I could also make sure I didn't set out too fast at the beginning.

The photos were taken by Mokshasiddha at 14km (left) and 40 km (right).

For anyone interested in such things, the split timings were as follows:

Split	Time of day	Time	Diff	min/km	km/h
5 km	09:36:53	00:25:28	25:28	05:06	11.79
10 km	10:03:17	00:51:51	26:23	05:17	11.37
15 km	10:30:17	01:18:51	27:00	05:25	11.11
20 km	10:56:49	01:45:23	26:32	05:19	11.31
Half	11:02:35	01:51:10	05:47	05:16	11.41
25 km	11:23:32	02:12:06	20:56	05:22	11.18
30 km	11:51:40	02:40:14	28:08	05:38	10.66
35 km	12:18:33	03:07:08	26:54	05:23	11.15
40 km	12:46:37	03:35:12	28:04	05:37	10.69

More statistics:

My overall pace was 5:23 minutes per km

My average heart rate was 156

I finished 10,397th out of 34,027 overall

Of the men in the 50-54 age group I was 1088 of 3322
Among all the men I was 10397 out of 26597

The atmosphere was of course terrific despite the rain, as was the constant encouragement from the crowds. It was wonderful too to see many friends along the way.No doubt many memories will remain with me for many years to come. One of the more bizarre memories is of being massaged after the race in the rain on the lawn in front of the Reichstag!

Although it was a great day which I will never forget, I do not intend to change my mind about not repeating the experience. I have already registered for next year's Berlin half marathon on 3rd April, but I will stick to halves in future.

One Day...

2010-09-25T19:26:00.000+02:00

Ran my last training run this afternoon - an easy four kilometers in gentle rain, followed by four 100 meter sprints. Ate a good portion of spaghetti for lunch. Occasionally experiencing some pre-race excitement / nervousness, which is to be expected I guess. The weather forecast is for rain the whole day, which is probably better than hot sunshine, though I hope it isn't too heavy. Am in the process of preparing for an early start tomorrow, and will get to bed early, though I don't know how well I will sleep.

Pre-race nutrition

2010-09-24T17:35:00.000+02:00

Home-made rhubarb crumble with ice-cream

Two Days....

2010-09-24T15:12:00.000+02:00

I survived the crowds at the trade fair in Tempelhof and have collected my number! Having made my way to the far end of the hall where the numbers were strategically situated I managed to get out again with my wallet completely intact.

Three Days....

2010-09-23T21:39:00.000+02:00

Another day nearer and another six kilometer training run, more realisticly paced than a couple of days ago, but still surprisingly fast. I'll certainly need to watch out that I don't set off too fast, which seems to be the most widespread mistake of marathon runners.

Tomorrow I have written a big "NOTHING" in my diary, although I intend to bake a rhubarb crumble before collecting my number from a trade fair at the former Tempelhof airport, and making a short trip to Ikea. Otherwise I will be aiming to chill out as much as possible until the start of the race at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. Just a very short gentle run on Saturday evening.

I have learnt that a small group of supporters intend to meet around the 40km mark to cheer me on. I hope I make it that far!!!

Four Days...

2010-09-22T21:22:00.002+02:00

Very tired today, having had a very full couple of days with late nights, which I am about to rectify by going to bed before 9.30. Yesterday evening I enjoyed co-leading a very well attended Padmasambhava Day celebration at the Buddhist Centre, which included four Mitra ceremonies, that is, four people publicly commiting themselves to the Buddhist Path in a short ceremony. I remember my own Mitra ceremony at the Norwich Buddhist Centre in England in 1993, one of the most memorable and significant moments in my life.

And now I'd better get to bed.

Five days to go

2010-09-21T13:07:00.004+02:00

Just returned from a six kilometer training run, rather surprised by my time. I followed my pulse meter and ran at around 85% of my maximum pulse rate (which should be my marathon race tempo). I ended up apparently running faster than ever, with a pace of 4:42 per kilometer. If I keep that up on Sunday we'll all be in for a surprise. I'd finish well under three and a half hours! Dream on....

I have been following a training plan with goal of finishing in three and three quarter hours. Of course, that would be great, though I will be really happy if I run under four hours, and happy enough if I manage to complete the course at all.

I continue to be plagued by fears that I could get ill before Sunday. Every other person I meet seems to have some kind of cold or flu, and I do meet a lot of people, at the Buddhist centre and in my English teaching. I keep reciting my mantra: I will not get ill - I will not get ill - I will not get ill...

Mr Price is on the left, but where am I?

number 30522

2010-09-17T14:25:00.003+02:00

I have just registered on-line my 'contact persons' in the event of my hospitalisation during the marathon! In the course of which I learnt that my number will be 30522, which I guess may well reflect my final position.

I haven't heard anything specific to confirm that my main rival, Haile Gebrselassie (pictured left), world record holder and four times winner of the marathon in Berlin, will not be running, but judging from the latest news from the organisers, it looks like he really has pulled out. What a shame! I had been looking forward to giving him a run for his money.

Two Weeks to go

2010-09-13T09:07:00.008+02:00

This weekend I ran a reasonably fast 10km on Saturday and a gentle 7km on Sunday around Stadtpark Lichtenberg. Generally my training programme is tapering off, so apart from a 20 km on Thursday I'll run nothing more than 8km before the marathon on 26th.

The weekend was full of enjoyable activities, beginning with a meditation in Volkspark Friedrichshain, in beautiful late summer sunshine. In the evening Claudia and I heard went to a benefit concert at the University of Arts to see the Ensemble Incendo perform Piano quintets by Shostakovich and Schumann. It was a stunning concert. Both pieces, as well as the performance, were outstanding.

On Sunday morning Claudia and I visited the dahlia exhibition in Britzer Garden, a feast of colours and forms, and in the evening we attended an evening of music and meditation at the Buddhist centre, where we listened to a recording of Brahms' First Piano Concerto.

Past Lives

2010-09-08T11:11:00.003+02:00

Last night at our Sangha Evening at the Buddhist Centre I spoke about my life and how I have come to be in Berlin. I showed a few photos and talked about some of the milestones along the way, which of course took longer than intended. I had planned to talk about my life, my practice and my inspiration. Well, the practice and inspiration will have to wait for another time. What I had to say seems to have been well received by the 30 or so people present. Looking back confirms that one can always change. For most of my life even the prospect of talking to more than three people at a time brought me out in a sweat. I sometimes find it difficult to recognise myself in the unconfident and painfully shy person I was in the past.

Yesterday I also ran a fairly gentle 10km along the canal. I am rather relieved that the really long training runs are over as they take up so much time. I still plan to run a 20km on Thursday next week, but otherwise nothing more than 10 or 12 in the tapering phase. In fact, the time needed to train for a marathon is probably the main reason why I can't imagine myself wanting to run more than one. I have every intention of continuing to run after September 26th, but I will probably restrict myself in future to half marathons.

Ten Years in Berlin

2010-09-06T11:29:00.003+02:00

Ten years ago today I arrived in Berlin, having spent two days travelling from Padmaloka near Norwich in East England. Early in the morning of 4th September 2000 I set out on my bicycle to Colchester, where I stayed overnight with Amoghavajra in his community. From there I went to Harwich where I caught a ferry to Hamburg, travelling with Claus-Wilhelm and Mahananda, who were visiting Germany on holiday. I was also pleasantly surprised to meet an old friend John, who was taking a short trip on the same ferry by chance.

My first view of Germany as we approached the Elbe in the early morning is captured in this photo. It was raining as I arrived, and was met by a smiling Nirmala, a good friend, who took me for breakfast and after putting me up for the night, set me on a train to Berlin, where I was met by Anomarati, the Chair of the Buddhist Gate of Berlin, who welcomed me with a bouquet of flowers.

Last week I was very tired and possibly also suffering from a chill. Therefore I couldn't complete my training runs as planned. On Thursday I didn't even try to run the 16km which was on my training plan. However I did travel to Vimaladhatu for the weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Although I didn't manage another 35km, I did run 28km on Saturday. I had to finish a little earlier, otherwise I would not have been back in time to give the short presentation I had offered to give.

To Vimaladhatu

2010-09-01T20:55:00.006+02:00

Off to Vimaladhatu tomorrow for the annual Central European Order Forum. I hope to run my last 35 km training run on Sunday, though I will no doubt have to start early in order to fit it in before the day's programme gets under way. Yesterday I had to drop the idea of running 10 x 1000m intervals, as I was still extremely tired from the exersions of last weekend. I am still tired and intend to get a 12 km run in tomorrow before breakfast. I don't yet know if that is too much. We'll see.

Who is this hirsute chappie? The photo was taken in County Clare, West Ireland in 1991.

New Shoes Again

2010-08-30T22:45:00.003+02:00

On Saturday I visited Runners Point again and treated myself to a second pair of Asics GT-2150, this time with Lime Green stripes. Whether the colour will make a difference to my performance remains to be seen. I'll try them out tomorrow, when I'm scheduled to run 10 x 1000 metre intervals.

I have been having some pain in my right foot during the past months. After about 30 or 40 minutes I get a pain just behind my three outside toes. The shop assistant on Saturday did an analysis of my running style and suggested that although I 'pronate' on my left foot and therefore need a shoe with a support function, my right foot seems to require less. That could mean that the right foot is unnecessarily being forced over to the outside.

Four Weeks to go

2010-08-29T20:17:00.003+02:00

This morning I ran my second 35 km: a little more than three and a half hours. It went much better than the first one two weeks ago, partly on account of the weather, partly because I was better prepared with energy bars, and also because I guess I am simply fitter. I even managed to run the last 10 km at marathon pace, in accordance with the training plan. For most of the time it rained which was not uncomfortable, and I didn't need to drink so much water as two weeks ago. Having something to eat prevented that feeling of exhaustion at the end, which was just as well, because less than an hour afterwards I visited friends nearby for a barbecue.

Photos from Leek

2010-08-25T20:47:00.010+02:00

at the start

A great service is provided by Racephotos.org.uk . They take hundreds of race photos and make them available on-line, free to download! Take a look. They also published the full results.: click here. Here are a couple of high resolution photos of me during the race, which Bryan, the photographer sent me:

3.5 miles

yes, it was hot

12 miles

The Leek Half Marathon

2010-08-23T11:20:00.004+02:00

Following a pleasant couple of days with various members of my family in West Wales on the occasion of my nephew's wedding, early yesterday morning my brother Llion drove me three hours across the country to Leek, where I ran in the half marathon. I hadn't expected to run a particularly fast time, because the course contains a lot of very steep hills. Apart from a couple of miles of relatively flat road in the middle of the course, where the outstanding views across the very beautiful countryside makes one forget the pain completely, the rest of the course seemed to consist of very steep ups and very steep downs. Not at all what I am used to in Berlin and Brandenburg.

I was however, very happy with my performance. I don't yet know the official results but my time was around 1 hour 53 minutes. Llion kindly drove me to East Midlands airport straight afterwards, and I arrived home at half past midnight, understandably tired.

My stay in Wales was extremely pleasant, not just on account of the occasion and the opportunity to meet up with family again, but the beauty of the West Wales countryside as well as the location of my Bed and Breakfast and the very friendly hospitality of the owners. It was also great to experience the Welsh language being spoken as a first language among the family and friends of my nephew's wife.

Thanks to Llion for the photos.

Listening to my body

2010-08-19T06:09:00.006+02:00

At five o'clock this morning it was still dark, and it was 13°C which gave me the distinct sense that autumn is just around the corner. As I am off to Wales this evening to attend my nephew's wedding I needed to fit my training run in this morning and set off around 5.10. Soon after getting under way it became clear that I needed to rethink my scheduled 12 km at 85% HFmax (maximum heart frequence) as my body was telling me in no uncertain terms that it was not up to it, no doubt partly because it is still recovering from Sunday, but also I have been very active the last few days. So I only ran 9.5 km, but still managed to enjoy it. On Sunday I'm due to run in the Leek half marathon, so it'll be interested what my body says to the prospect then.

I have always considered it important to listen to my body, especially since becoming vegetarian nearly thirty years ago. Not being prepared to invest vast amounts of time in researching how to eat a balanced diet and meet my nutritional needs I have always followed my intuition in this regard. No doubt I could fine tune my sensibility at times, but so far so good.

Great to have seen a fox this morning while running nearby the canal.

and yesterday I ran 36 km

2010-08-16T08:06:00.008+02:00

At the end it was tough, I have to admit. Yesterday I ran my first '35 km', the first of three that I should complete according to my training plan. I ran along the riverside in Treptower Park several times. Despite the forecast rain, the weather was pleasant, maybe a bit too warm, and the park was teaming with people out for their Sunday 'constitutional', as well as a host of other runners.

On the way I drank a liter and a half of water, and managed to increase the tempo for the last 5 km, (though admittedly not by much). At the end I felt totally exhausted, and felt quite unwell for an hour or so. A hot bath and a good meal helped considerably and a couple of hours later I was able to enjoy an hour's walk around the locality and an ice cream with Claudia.

No trouble with bleeding nipples this time! In order to help the plasters to stick, I shaved the hair around my nipples (another first for me), and it did help. It itches like mad though!

Yesterday I ran my first 30 km....

2010-08-09T11:39:00.004+02:00

... and this is what I looked like afterwards, complete with water bottles, heartrate monitor and nipple plasters!

Personal Best

2010-08-02T07:56:00.004+02:00

I was very happy to have run a personal best time for 10 km on Saturday evening in the Berlin City Night run. A typical Berlin festival atmosphere mingled with the tourists around Zoo Station and the Memorial Church before the start. I can't say I'm a great fan of the Ku'Damm area, the city centre of West Berlin, and I rarely go there, but on this occasion I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here are the statistics:

net time: 47:37
overall position: 1225 / 5700
position (age group) 93 / 361
4:46 per km
average speed: 12.6 km/h

Running Late

2010-07-31T15:10:00.002+02:00

Just a few hours to go before the City Night run, which starts at 8.30 this evening. I hope I won't need them today, but I called in to Runners Point this morning and bought myself some 'nipple protection plasters' as well as an 'energy centre', which is basically two small bottles for carrying water for the forthcoming longer training runs.

I have decided to run in the Leek Half Marathon in England on 22nd August. I'm in Britain anyway that weekend, and a half marathon competition fits in well with my training plan. The organisers warn that it is a hilly course, so I have no expectations of a best time.

Running Early

2010-07-29T06:01:00.002+02:00

It seems a bit absurd that I'm sitting at my laptop at 6 o'clock in the morning, dripping with sweat before I take a shower. I have just enjoyed a great run along the canal in the tranquil early morning atmosphere of the slowly awakening city. I ran 7.5 km at a good pace, a pace I hope to match on Saturday when I participate in the Berlin City Night run, 10 km starting as the sun goes down. It takes a bit of effort to get started so early in the morning, unsurprisingly the body has some resisitance to being forced out of the cosy comfort of bed to be forced to race along the street, even before breakfast. But once it gets going, it is a delight, and I even get to enjoy the peace and quiet of the still slumbering community when I return.

Getting Lost in Teltow-Fläming

2010-07-26T11:56:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I ran the longest distance I've ever run. I'd planned a 20 kilometer run along two signposted nordic walking routes, but because some signs were missing I ended up running 28.7 km instead. I felt a bit cheated somehow, not to say pretty tired. Trying to keep my heart rate at the planned 70% of the maximum, meant that it was also an incredibly slow and long run: three and aquarter hours. This morning I feel remarkably well, considering...

Jogger's Nipples and Cello Scrotum

2010-07-21T13:18:00.004+02:00

A problem I've had over the last few weeks has been 'runner's nipples'. Really! Due to the extreme heat and consequent sweating, the chafing of my wet shirt on my nipples has sometimes been extremely painful, even to the extent that they have bled. Looking down at my shirtfront and seeing blood stains was quite a shock the first time! In the last week the problem has eased a little and I have discovered that if I keep wiping the sweat from my neck, the shirt doesn't get wet so quickly. I am also kind of relieved that it is an acknowledged condition - see the article on Wikipedia Technically known as fissure of nipple, there are also some useful suggestions for its prevention which I might try. I tried sticking plaster, but they don't stick very well. The photo isn't of my nipple by the way, but copied from Wikipedia and copyrighted by the photographer C0nsumer and licensed under creative commons.

I did some enjoyable interval training this morning, getting up at 5.30 again to enjoy the relatively cool air, and running 10 x 400 metres with 400 metre jogging in between.

By the way, you'll need to read the Wikipedia article to learn about Cello Scrotum.

Tired but Cultured

2010-07-17T16:20:00.003+02:00

It was a difficult run this morning. Having planned a 10 km 'race tempo' before breakfast I cut the distance by half and arrived home just as the ran started. It wasn't the threat of rain though. I am simply a bit over tired due to a combination of getting up early to train during the last couple of weeks and not making up lost sleep and the on-going hot weather. The three hours steady rain this morning is the first we've seen here for a month or so, and the temperature has dropped to 28°, but the foredast is for a return to 30°+ in the coming week.

During my time in Luckenwalde recently I read a very clear book by Aaron Copland called What to Listen for in Music, which has inspired me to broaden my awareness of composers and their works. To this end I have been working my way through Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues, which I find incredibly beautiful. Earlier in the year I immersed myself in Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, which were inspired by the composer's response to Bach's works. Another composer who recieves several mentions in Copland's book is Charles Ives, who I had not heard before, and am now in the process of exploring. Who'd ever have thought it?

Back in Berlin

2010-07-12T18:28:00.003+02:00

I am back in Berlin after my five week 'sabbatical', although I have calculated that I was in Berlin on 12 days during this time, either teaching English or attending meetings to do with the purchase and redevelopment of our new Buddhist centre. On one level it feels that I have hardly been away, but on the other hand I notice that the break has definitely done me a bit of good - maybe helped me to gain some perspective on my situation here.

During the nearly ten years that I have been here this is the longest period I have spent away from the activities at the Buddhist centre. This is of course no surprise, as it is the centre that is my overriding reason for moving to Berlin in the first place.

The last couple of weeks in Luckenwalde saw the rich green of the surrounding countryside rapidly turn brown and dry as temperatures have soared to intimidating heights, that means I have to get up early in the morning or wait until quite late in the evening to avoid running in temperatures of well over 30°C. One advantage of running so early in the day was that yesterday morning I enjoyed an unexpected sighting of a baby wild pig as well as a deer and several storks.

This morning my health checks continued with a visit to a radiologist, who scanned my stomach and liver, following a borderline blood test a couple of months ago. Happily I received the all clear.

The Countdown has begun

2010-07-07T22:34:00.005+02:00

Monday saw the beginning of my 12-week training plan - I ran a gentle 8 kilometers through the woods close to Claudia's cottage where I've been generally based for the past month. It was 27° and humid, but I always enjoy these runs through the woods. Something nearly always catches my eye. On Monday it was a pair of buzzards, sitting on a fallen tree on the edge of the woods, last week a pair of pheasants and a hare on the track in front of me. I also recently encountered a deer and for the first time saw a black woodpecker.

This evening the German national football team failed to make it to the final in the World Cup. Earlier this evening I went for a ten km run along the canal shortly before the match started. The cafes offering public viewing of the match were buzzing with fans sporting the black, red and gold of the German flag. Apart from a short spell as a Liverpool fan when I was ten years old I have never really been interested in football. Of course, I have a vague memory of the 1966 World Cup final - it took place on the day of our arrival at a caravan park in Bacton-on-Sea in Norfolk, where we had a family holiday. The treatment of football and the players by the media strikes me as a bit wierd to be honest, perhaps almost as wierd as the fact that so many people get so emotionally involved in what in the end is 'just a game'.

This afternoon I finally got along to the urologist and was given the all clear as far as my prostate is concerned. I couldn't help thinking what a strange job that is - it's a great thing that people are preapared to become urologists, but I can't imagine what drives someone to specialise in this particular field. Next week I'm off to the dermatologist and the radiologist for further routine check-ups for the over 50s.

Update from Luckenwalde

2010-06-23T22:20:00.007+02:00

Well, the weather has been pleasant enough. I have also continued to enjoy making headway with the Empathic Civilization - just over a hundred pages to go. In the last few days I've been joined by Karunabandhu, who is doing some repair work on one of the sheds in the garden, and I've enjoyed helping out where I can. I continue to run every other day, still just gentle outings through the woods, preparatory to the start of the training plan in a couple of weeks time.

Apparently the world cup has started again. It is a vaguely interesting phenomenon that it manages to attract such attention, and therefore money, from so many around the world, but otherwise I can't really get excited about it.

Below are some photos from the last couple of weeks in Luckenwalde.

The woods where I train

The Buddha hill in the garden
(It used to be a rubbish heap)

A Poppy in the sun

A poppy and a bee

Courgette seedlings

Ornamental grass

Garden shed roof repairs

A very tiny baby rat?

2010-06-16T21:52:00.008+02:00

I'm back in Berlin for my weekly visit. My first week in Luckenwalde has been very enjoyable and relatively eventful. As well as spending a good deal of time pottering in the garden, cutting the grass, and coming to terms with the incredibly complicated watering system and trying to simplify it, I have been engrossed in a new book by Jeremy Rifkin called the Empathic Civilization. I still have around half of the 600 or so pages to go, but the effort seems well worth it, if only for the delightfully readable style with which the author draws on all aspects of the entire history of mankind in relating his thesis, that

"at the very core of the human story is the paradoxical relationship between empathy and entropy. He observes that at various times in history new energy regimes have converged with new communication revolutions, creating ever more complex societies. More technologically dadvanced cultures, in turn, have brought together more diverse people, heightened empathic sensitivity, and expanded human consciousness. But these increasingly complicated milieus require extensive energy use and speed us toward resource depletion.

The irony is that our growing empathic awareness has been made possible by an ever-greater consumption of the Earth's energy and other resources, resulting in a dramatic deterioration in the health of the planet"

At least according to the notes in the dust jacket. It is certainly a gripping read, for someone like me who has never really managed to grasp an overview of the history of mankind, whether in the sphere of politics, psychology, religion or any other.

At the weekend Luckenwalde hosted the 20th Turmfest (Tower festival?) , a weekend fair involving the transforming of the town centre into a venue for music and entertainment. There were three stages, providing for all tastes, from country and western to rap, as well as the usual fair ground rides and bars and fast food stands. I managed to persuade Claudia to join me on Friday evening to see Engerling, a blues-based band from the former DDR, who can evidently still create a good atmosphere, and I enjoyed hearing them. They did great cover versions of Dead Flowers and Riders on the Storm.

On Sunday Claudia and I had guests and took them to the miniscule town zoo, which comprises little more than a few deer, wild boar, miniature goats ponies, donkies, various birds and apair of brown bears. It was however a pleasant outing, and probably the quietest zoo I have ever been to.

Of course I have been continuing to run. Officially I am in a recovery period before embarking on my 12 week marathon training plan at the start of July. Therefore I resisted the temptation to join in the 10 km race on Saturday that is part of the annual fair, and have jogged my way through the woods near the cottage every couple of days. After all it was less than a week beforehand that I ran a half marathon. My next race is the 10 km Berlin City Night run on 31st July.

Photos from the International Retreat

2010-06-09T22:23:00.004+02:00

Many thanks to Petra, who sent me the following photos from the recent International Retreat at Taraloka.

with my dad at Taraloka

serving dinner to the 430 retreatants

Thirteen Years Old

2010-06-09T21:52:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I celebrated the thirteenth anniversary of my private ordination into the Western Buddhist Order, recently renamed the Triratna Buddhist Order. On 8th June 1997 I received my name as well as the mantra of my visualisation practice from Ashvajit, my private preceptor. I wrote a bit about receiving my name a few months ago, here. I have re-read my diary entry from that time, describing my happiness at receiving my name and participating in the ritual, which seemed to go by "in a flash", and took place in the context of a six hour long puja.

So after a pleasant three hour long walk with Claudia through the countryside surrounding the cottage, a five km gentle run through the woods and a little work in the garden Claudia and I celebrated my 'birthday' with a meal at our favourite Indian restaurant in Luckenwalde, Royal Mahal, which advertises itself as an Indian/Italian restaurant, but also serves specialities from other countries including Germany. The Indian food at any rate is superb.

Inside the Royal Mahal

Potsdamer Schlössermarathon

2010-06-06T20:28:00.004+02:00

It was a very early start this morning, in order to be in Potsdam in time to collect my start number on time, but everything went smoothly, even if the queue for the numbers appeared shockingly long at first sight. It was already very hot as the runners gathered in the stadium for the start at 9 o'clock, and it was probably clear to everyone that a gentler tempo would be appropriate under such conditions. Last year it apparently rained all day. Today the sun was relentless, which one shouldn't complain about, considering it has taken so long this year to make itself felt.

The course is really very attractive. One can get an impression from the photos here. Each time I visit Potsdam, which I have probably done about five times in the past ten years, I think to myself, that I would like to get to know the town a little more, but it is not so important that I have ever made the time to follow my thoughts through. The race began by taking us through the city centre, followed by several large parks, including Park Sanssouci and Park Babelsberg, with their famous palaces. We also crossed over the Glienicke Bridge, famous as the sight of exchanges of captured spies between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, for which the press coined the name, the 'Bridge of Spies'.

Given the conditions and the fact that due to my recent illness I had not trained much recently, I was satisfied with my result: I covered the course in a time of 1:55:53, finishing overall 802nd out of 2,706, and 70th in my age class.

Tomorrow after a meeting about the new Buddhist centre, I head off to Luckenwalde for a long-awaited break for five weeks, returning to Berlin once a week in order to teach English and thereby continuing to earn a little money, as well as keeping informed about progress with the new centre.

Back in Berlin

2010-06-03T20:16:00.009+02:00

Yesterday evening I returned from a six day trip to Britain along with four others from Buddhistisches Tor. On Thursday we flew to Liverpool, took a train to Whitchurch in Shropshire from where we took a taxi to Taraloka on the England/Wales border. From Friday until Tuesday we enjoyed the company of 430 Buddhist practitioners from all over the world on the second Triratna International Retreat.

As well as meditation and puja we enjoyed talks, workshops and work periods together. It was a great weekend, and I really enjoyed meeting old and new friends, many of whom I have known for many years. The weather played its part in keeping the weekend's proceedings suitably varied and on the last evening we ritually marked the change of name of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order to the Triratna Buddhist Community.

I also managed a trip out with my dad, who now concedes that I can run ten kilometers faster than him, and on the evening after the event finished my sister Jane came over with her husband H and daughter Katie, and we went out for a glass of orange juice and lemonade in nearby Ellesmere.

During the event I found time to run a gentle 13 kilometers through the varied and pleasingly flat surrounding countryside, incorporating a disused stretch of railway, a canal towpath and a peat bog. This afternoon I ran a pleasant 5 km along my usual canal route here in Berlin, and am now looking forward to running in the half marathon in Potsdam on Sunday .

Running again

2010-05-26T13:04:00.002+02:00

Three full weeks since I felt well enough to run. Today I ran a comfortable five kilometers and could probably have managed more, but I didn't want to overdo it. This virus had come back a couple of times after I thought it was over.

Tomorrow I'm off to Taraloka on the border of England and Wales for a short retreat, during which we will celebrate Wesak, the anniversary celebration of the Buddha's enlightenment. A small group of Berliners are flying tomorrow afternoon to Liverpool John Lennon airport, from where we will travel to Taraloka by train. All being well I will participate in another half marathon very soon after I return. Due to the break in training, I will be happy just to jog along the course to the finish, rather than aim to break any records.

Today I received the official results magazine of the Berlin half marathon, and discovered that the fastest man in my age group ran over 30 minutes faster than me. Well, that's something to aim for, though I can't quite imagine it is a realistic goal.

Old age, Sickness and Death

2010-05-19T09:15:00.003+02:00

Its almost two weeks since I started getting ill, and I still don't feel able to restart training. It takes it out of me to climb the stairs to my flat, although I am managing to get about by bicycle again, despite the weather. Patience is a spiritual practice that everyone who possesses a body can practise, especially as one gets older. It was his realisation of the facts of old age, sickness and death two and a half thousand years ago that provided the spur for Siddhartha to pursue the spiritual quest to its ultimate conclusion of Enlightenment when he became the Buddha. I will try to patiently accept my condition while hoping to be fit and well enough in order to take part in the half marathon in Potsdam on 6th June.

BIG 25

2010-05-09T11:43:00.007+02:00

The BIG 25 km is underway right now. In fact the winners have no doubt completed the course and maybe even received their prizes in the Olympic stadium. On Friday I collected my number - 4749 - with my running mate Harald, although I was pretty certain that I would not be well enough to run. For the second year running I have fallen ill just before this run and couldn't join the fun. It would have been my longest run yet, but last year I came down with flu the evening before, and this year I started sneezing non-stop on Thursday morning, and I am just now over the worst, but am still weak and breathless. It is enough climbing the stairs to the flat, never mind running 25 km. Next year.....

The number I would have had.

Reading

2010-04-28T10:37:00.008+02:00

Yesterday I finished re-reading Moving Against the Stream, the most recent memoirs of Sangharakshita, the founder of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order / Triratna, the Buddhist movement of which I am a part. In this book Sangharakshita describes his return to the West in the early sixties after two decades of living and practising in the East. The situation in the small world of British Buddhism at that time was quite different to that of the present, and I marvel and rejoice in the fact that Sangharakshita not only managed to survive those very difficult times, but also managed to found a new Buddhist movement that quickly grew and spread throughout not just Britain and the West, but throughout the world.

At school I don't remember ever having actually read a book from cover to cover, I simply couldn't see the point. It wasn't until about the age of twenty, having been working for five years on the roads, asphalting, mixing concrete and laying kerbstones, that I read short biographies of John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, and soon discovered the books by the adventurer Thor Heyerdal, who became an early hero for me. I soon devoured all of his books, and thereby thankfully developed a broader perspective on life.

Later I studied philosophy and politics and therefore read quite a lot in these fields, although I rarely really found much inspiration or enthusiasm for these topics. A couple of names I remember from this time, of people whose writings really spoke to me, are Bertrand Russell, who was another great hero for me, and Jean-Paul Satre. I also dabbled with Kafka and Dostoevsky.

Having discovered the teachings of the Buddha in the early nineties, I am always happy to bury myself in Dharma books, especially primary sources, from the Buddhist canon, and books by Sangharakshita, of which there are many.

Nowadays, on account of my teaching English, I also get the chance to read modern novels with my students, which is something I never really got into before. Over the past four years we have read a very broad range of books, from The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to Hanif Kureishi's Something to Tell You. Currently we are reading In the Kitchen, a novel by Monica Ali, though we have only just begun and it is therefore too early to comment.

2010-04-27T15:31:00.006+02:00

I went for a leisurely 9,5 KM run this morning along the canal. There were fewer people around than on Sunday, when it was rather too crowded. Below is a map of my route.

2010-04-23T15:23:00.003+02:00

During the last couple of weeks, to complement my running, I've visited McFit four times, including my introductory session, working out on the diverse fitness machines and dutifully following my 'personal training plan' (which doesn't seem to differ very much from Satyasthira's plan). A couple of days following my first session, I had a bit of tingling in some of my chest and leg muscles, not quite stiffness, but I was aware that my muscles had been active. So far I've enjoyed the newness of the situation. It is a very different world from anything I've known, and the body-builders, busy with the weights and frequently checking their contours in the mirrors, has a kind of fascination. We'll see where it all leads, though I certainly have no thoughts of becoming a Mr. Universe contestant myself. There is a very funny clip from a Mr. Universe contest here.

This weekend I will be joining Vidyagita from Essen as representatives of the FWBO at the AGM of the German Buddhist Union, which is taking place at the Rigpa centre here in Berlin.

Getting used to Triratna

2010-04-16T11:23:00.004+02:00

Last week on Wednesday, the 42nd anniversary of the founding of the Western Buddhist Order, members of the Order in Berlin celebrated a short ceremony marking the change of the name of the Order to the Triratna Buddhist Order, or in German Buddhistische Orden Triratna.

Triratna is Sanskrit and means the Three Jewels, the three jewels being the Buddha, the Dharma, the teaching of the Buddha, and the Sangha, or spirtual community. It is to these three things to which Buddhists go for refuge, therefore signifying the three most significant values for all Buddhists, around which they orientate their lives. More about the name change can be found here.

Music

2010-04-14T21:39:00.005+02:00

I am currently enjoying a bit of a love affair with the music of Shostakovich, and in fact music generally. Music has always played a significant role in my life, from the early days of the Beatles (the first record I owned was 'She Loves You', given to me for my sixth birthday) through the 'underground' music of the Edgar Broughton Band, the straight rock of Free, back to the roots with the Blues, and later enjoying Frank Zappa's very humorous inventiveness. I started playing guitar while still at school and later played in various bands, and even spent several months supporting myself by playing the banjo on the streets of Norwich. I came to a late discovery of orchestral and classical music, after years of being a staunch Philistine, but it is barely possible not to be learn to appreciate classical music and the arts generally when living in Berlin, where there is so much on offer. I have even begun trying to learn a little bit of music theory.

I have come to recognise how really moving music can be. I'm frequently moved to tears these days by the power of music, not always in a sentimental way (though I suspect there is an element of this sometimes, when for example I am moved by the 'old songs of the sixties'). A couple of years ago I was privileged to receive a free ticket to see a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and it seemed to me that everyone in the concert hall was weeping. Now it is Shostakovich that is moving me and I feel I am beginning to appreciate what Sangharakashita means when he says that the arts can be a means of assisting spiritual growth and development. It's just so difficult to express it in words, which is of course why the arts exist. As an artist friend once said, quoting a former teacher of his, if you can put it into words, well you don't need to paint it.

And the piece that has me completely overwhelmed at the moment, and which I have decided should be the music to be played at my funeral is Shostakovich's Prelude and Fugue in D minor.

To McFit

2010-04-12T09:37:00.004+02:00

My regular training has continued since Easter with relatively short and slow runs of 6 to 8 km every couple of days, recovering from the half marathon and leading up to the preparations for the 25 km on 9th May. This afternoon I have a trial appointment at McFit, a fitness centre which I hope to join and incorporate some strength training my programme. Why McFit? Well it is very cheap in comparison to most of the other fitness centres (although you have to pay extra for the showers), and they're open 24 hours a day.

In Berlin, the Scots have a bit of a reputation, and there are several businesses that call themselves 'McSomething' to indicate that they offer cheap goods and services, including McPaper (stationary) and MacGeiz (which translates as MacStingy and sells household goods).

Here is a picture of me at the end of the half marathon last month:

Summer Running Plans

2010-04-04T22:15:00.003+02:00

According to my book, based on my half marathon performance I should be aiming for a 3:30 marathon in September, but I think I'll be following a plan for 3:45, which seems much more realistic and sensible. In the end I'll be happy to finish at all.

In the meantime I have the Big 25 in five weeks lined up, which starts and finishes in the Olympic stadium, and which I'd planned to run last year but was ill on the day, and four weeks after that I'll participate in the Potsdam half marathon. The twelve week marathon training plan begins at the start of July, after a four week period of recuperation. On August 31st I'll take part in the City Night 10km along Ku'damm, which begins as the sun goes down. It is reported to have a great party atmosphere, but also attracts top athletes. So the run up to my marathon attempt is taking shape.

Berlin Half Marathon Results in Brief

2010-03-29T07:50:00.007+02:00

I was very pleased with my performance yesterday, especially given that I have some kind of a cold, although the event was marred by the death of one runner who collapsed shortly before the end. Here are my statistics:

net time: 1:46:35
10 km time: 50:12
overall position: 4408
position (age group) 442
5:03 per km
average speed: 11.88 km/h

So I achieved my goal of 1:47. A bit of stiffness this morning, but nothing too dramatic. More results here.

and here is the medal!

Two Days to go

2010-03-26T11:11:00.004+01:00

Plants waiting to be watered
A room waiting to be tidied

Today is a rest day. I have deliberately kept the day free of appointments and am trying to avoid getting stuck into the work that has been piling up over the last few weeks. Instead I will simply water the plants in the community, which is part of my Friday morning routine, and tidy a few things away. I'll listen to some Shostakovich and read a little before meeting Claudia at 4 o'clock for a walk in Treptower Park.

Tomorrow I'll collect my number (18222) from the Trade Fair in the former Tempelhof airport, and run a gentle 4 km, my last training before the half marathon on Sunday. The training plan I've been following has been aimed at a time of 1:47. I hope I come somewhere close to it. The weather today is expected to reach 20°C but from tomorrow it will be colder again with showers, somewhere between 6 and 12° on Sunday.

Luckenwalde

2010-03-24T18:51:00.002+01:00

A couple of impressions from last weekend in Luckenwalde

Only 6 Days before the Half Marathon

2010-03-22T22:37:00.003+01:00

The results of last week's 10 km race have been published. I finished 109th in a time of 49:32, and 8th in the men's over 50s class, which I think is o.k. I have now started counting off the days to the half marathon on Sunday. Since the 10 km the training plan has been fairly gentle and continues to be so until Sunday. Last week I ran nothing more than 8 km and in the coming week I have nothing over 5 km planned, although there is an emphasis on interval training to help improve my speed. I was pleased to see this morning that I seem to have reduced my weight by two kilograms since the start of the year. According to my marathon book, each kilo of fat increases the marathon time by two minutes!

Today I led the lunchtime meditation in the Buddhist centre. In addition to the usual handful of meditators, I was joined by 22 Danish students and their teachers, who are on a week's trip to Berlin, and who stayed for an hour afterwards to learn something about the Buddha and his teaching. As well as being impressed by the students' brightness, politeness and by them being so well-behaved, I also had the unusual pleasure, as well as the challenge, of teaching in English. I always appreciate the challenge of getting the message of the Buddha across to people for whom it is new, as I have to re-connect with that message again myself. It is so easy to slip into the habit of taking things for granted, whether it is the teaching of re-birth, the four Noble Truths, Karma or anything else. I hope I managed to get something of value across to our visitors this afternoon. At least they appeared to have learnt something and afterwards they expressed their gratitude.

Finally the six-week Introduction to Buddhism Course this evening that I've been leading came to an end. Again, these courses never fail to give my own practice a boost and I always enjoy the freshness and energetic inspiration that the participants inevitably bring with them.

FWBO Berlin AGM

2010-03-18T23:04:00.002+01:00

Yesterday we held the annual General Meeting of the charity. I have been the Chairman now since November 2003 and feel that I am am beginning to find my feet. As always there is a lot of formality in such meetings, and a lot of preparation, writing and copying the papers and reports. At the same time the meetings provide a focus for the members of the charity, all members of the Western Buddhist Order, to come together and meet on a basis of common interest and shared vision. The vision is not always so explicit, but there is undoubtedly a lot of overlap, which expresses itself in the harmonious and friendly manner in which we get things done.

Photos of my ordination

2010-03-18T22:26:00.004+01:00

Having written about my ordination yesterday, I thought I'd post a couple of photos from the ordination course in Spain in 1997.

17 new Order Members and their preceptors.

8 men from Padmaloka

Me in my shiny new kesa

The Garland of Terms in German

2010-03-17T13:45:00.007+01:00

Although I felt pretty tired on Monday after the race at the weekend, I enjoyed a gentle 8KM along the banks of the canal yesterday.

In the evening I was very happy to introduce Ashvajit at the Buddhist Centre, who in the course of the Sangha Evening, launched the publication of the German translation of his and Cittapala's popular booklet A Garland of Terms. Beginning as a purely personal project to improve my German, I spent several years systematically collecting translations for the terms in the booklet and later realised that a German edition of the title would be much appreciated.

With the assistance of Elisabeth Bendlin and Aryadeva who checked and improved the reanslations, Harald Eckhoff who translated the prefaces, and Andreas Eickelkamp who provided the index and worked on the layout, the booklet is published as Buddhistische Begriffe und Listen, die man kennen sollte, which translates into English as Buddhist Terms and Lists, that one should know. Proceeds from the sale of the booklet will go towards helping to finance our new centre in Berlin, which is planned to open in 2011.

Copies of the booklet can be purchased from Buddhistisches Tor for 5 Euros. Ashvajit is my preceptor, which means it was he who ordained me in 1997 in the course of a four-month retreat at Guhyaloka in the mountains of southern Spain. In the course of the ceremony he witnessed my Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels, gave me my new name and introduced me to a new meditation practice, which involves the visualisation and mantra-recitation of the Buddha Shakyamuni.

A few days later at my public ordination ceremony, when my name was made public, Ashvajit introduced my name as follows:

The ex-Adrian Weller is a member of the Padmaloka community, so I have had all sorts of opportunities to get to know him and to see all sorts of qualities really beginning to shine in him or through him. Perhaps the first quality that I would like to allude to is an emotional positivity. In every situation that he has been in, although he himself has admitted to difficulties at times, what shows outwardly is his emotional positivity. He is also able to apply himself to things successfully, and he has applied himself to all sorts of things. He has applied himself particularly to the garden at Padmaloka and the garden at Padmaloka nowadays is an object of everybody's admiration. So he has green fingers. He has also applied himself successfully to cooking at Padmaloka and I think he makes the best soup of anybody. He has also got other fine qualities, he has considerable dramatic potential. I call it potential because it is not yet fully realised, but one of the things that I did with the ex-Adrian was to read the Lord of the Rings aloud with him. I noticed that he gave beautiful characterisations of people, he could really get inside the characters in the tale. It is as if he sort of understood them from the inside. He also has this capacity just to respond appropriately to the Situation, and yes, to be successful in
whatever he does.

So I thought to myself what is it, who is this person who is always successful, who has the secret of successfully applying himself to so many things? And of course it came to me it is one of the Dhyani Buddhas, infallible success, amogha, as in the Buddha Amoghasiddhi. So that was the
first part of his name. Of course this seemed wonderfully appropriate because one of his kalyana mitras is Amoghavamsa. The other one is me. So perhaps it is only natural that there should be an affinity of qualities. Then I thought amogha, green, and all the qualities that go with that
magnificent Dhyani Buddha. He is a very mysterious figure, that dark green, but the ex-Adrian isn't mysterious in quite that way. Yes, there is a sense of mystery to him in that I feel there is this tremendous potential which has yet to come out, which has yet to manifest. One can see his qualities beginning to emerge, but there is much more to come.
But there is something else about him which is already very evident, that he not only has a beautiful smile, he has very expressive eyes with a gentle sort of sparkling quality to them. So again I thought ratna. So he is Amogharatna. So here we have the Jewel of Successful Application. Mogha, apparently, is the origin of a word meaning unprofitable, vain, useless, and
given its similarity to the Pali moha, meaning, ignorance, it seems very likely that amogha ("a" being a prefix meaning "not") originally meant simply non-ignorance. So here is a man who is not ignorant, not that he need possess any tremendous knowledge in a worldly sense, although he is quite worldly wise, he has had quite a lot of experience, a not always happy experience of life, he has seen the dark, side of life. But he values spiritual knowledge, he values the Dharma, he is not someone who professes ignorance, he is someone who is led by the Truth, he is someone in
particular who loves Bhante's teaching. And one of the marks of someone who is not ignorant, we find in the Pali Canon, is that he follows the words of the True Individual. In order to remove ignorance, in order to remove that spiritual veil, what you do to begin with is you just listen to the words of the True Individual. So that is another aspect of our new Dharmachari Amogharatna. The Successful Jewel, the Jewel of Non-Ignorance.

10km in Adlershof

2010-03-15T23:09:00.003+01:00

On Sunday morning I took part in the 24th 'Little Birch Wood' 10km run in Berlin Adlershof. According to the forecast we were to expect wild, wet and windy conditions, but in the event it was a pleasant, if overcast morning, and I was reasonably pleased with my performance. I ran the course in 49:32, eight seconds longer than I took for the 'Berlin Grand' 10km in October 2008. I could have run faster this time around, but was aiming to run at 95% HF(max). Unfortunately I had forgotten my table and miscalculated so that instead of running with a heartrate of 177, I actually averaged 172. So not too disappointed, but will learn the lesson hopefully.

On Friday evening I visited the cinema for the first time in many months to see Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland, and thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of a 3-D film. Although not altogether true to Lewis Carol's original, having received the Walt Disney treatment, it was a fascinating and enchanting experience.

I WILL NOT GET ILL

2010-03-10T21:57:00.006+01:00

Over the past few weeks I've noticed quite a lot of people around me have been suffering from colds or other illnesses, and my responses have varied from sympathy and compassion to fear that I might catch something. These are probably quite normal responses, but they demonstrate the ongoing struggle between the ego and the development of more altruistic responses to our fellow human beings.

Since Monday I have noticed a slight tingling sensation in the back of my throat and today a couple of friends have pointed out that my voice sounds strangely different. This afternoon I set out for a 7 x 1000m interval training session, and after 4 x 1000m I realised I was not up to it. In the last few weeks I have been very busy and possibly overworked and overstretching my capacities, leaving me quite tired and probably a bit run down. These are not good conditions for someone training for a half marathon, so I intend to do something about it.

Much of the Buddhist Path is about setting up the conditions to support one's spiritual practice. So no late night for me tonight! Responding to other beings in a more loving and compassionate way is likewise an important feature of Buddhism. So more Metta Bhavana (a meditation with the goal of developing loving kindness for all beings) in the coming weeks!

My shoes

2010-03-08T07:55:00.002+01:00

In response to a suggestion from friends, here is a photo of my own running shoes, rather than a picture taken from an advert.

A Weekend in the country

2010-03-07T15:57:00.009+01:00

On Friday I attended a meeting in Essen to discuss the translation and implementation in Germany of the new FWBO Mitra Dharma course. It was a long day, having to get up at 4.30 to catch my train and returning to Berlin around 11.00 pm. It was however a very productive meeting and I appreciated everybody's contributions. I think we reached a suitable conclusion and am sure the course will be of benefit to many people in the years to come.

In the train I watched the DVD about Shostakovich against Stalin and was strongly moved by it. I also listened to several of Shostakovich's preludes and fugues, which I recently acquired. My limited knowledge of music theory no doubt restricts my ability to fully appreciate the subtlties of classical music, but I am increasingly aware of the potential of music to move one and to touch one's emotions. When I find the time I hope to be able to learn more about music theory.

On Saturday morning Claudia and I took a train to the garden in Luckenwalde, enjoying the blue sky and sunshine, despite the freezing temperature. Last time we saw the garden was over the New Year when it was covered in thick snow. Although the snow had since melted, in the afternoon the sky darkened and from the warm comfort of the cottage we watched a snowstorm, which fortunately soon passed. I also ran a slow 8 km.

In the night the temperature fell to minus 8 and after a short walk through the local woods, by which time it had warmed up to around zero, I went for another slow run before lunch, this time around twenty kilometers. Everything seems set for a good run next weekend and for the half marathon in three weeks time, although I am still not so sure about the sole of my right foot. I had to stop briefly again to adjust the lace, after which all was well. I am beginning to suspect the discomfort may have more to do with my running style than with the shoes.

It is a real privilege to be able to enjoy the benefits of Claudia's cottage and garden and to watch the comings and goings of the various birds as they nourish themselves from the feeders hanging on the apple tree in front of the window. Time seems to pass much more slowly in the countryside than it does in the town.

A change in the weather

2010-03-05T00:20:00.004+01:00

I have booked to participate in a 10km run through a birchwood in Berlin Adlershof on Sunday, 14th March. As well as fitting well into my half marathon training programme, my aim is of course to improve on my 10km best time of 49:24 from October 2008. Last year I ran 51:35 in the 'Champions Run' in full Berlin Summer sunshine. I'd be pleased to run under 50 minutes again as I'll be on course for my half marathon goal on 28th.

Chintamani Community

2010-03-02T23:13:00.003+01:00

Nearly nine years ago three other men and I moved into a flat in Auguststraße in Berlin Mitte to form a Buddhist men's community. It had been one of my first intentions on moving to Berlin to live with other practitioners as a mutual support to practice, as well as being a practice in itself. Initially we had to convince the person letting the flat that we were actually quite harmless, his first response to our proposal to live together was along the lines of "It is disgusting! Four middle-aged men wanting to live together" (our average age was about 40). However he did give us the benefit of the doubt, apparently on discovering that I am English.

We stayed in Auguststraße for about 18 months, calling the community 'Chintamani', the wish-fulfilling jewel carried by the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and decided to move on as the rent increased by about 50%. After a long search we found our present flat on the fourth floor in Alte Jakobstraße, Berlin Kreuzberg, less than ten minutes from the former Checkpoint Charlie. There has been some comings and goings in the community, and there are now six men, three of the original four (Karunada, Satyasthira and myself) as well as Christian, Dharmapriya and Mokshasiddha.

There are four bedrooms, though each is divided into two rooms vertically as they are so high creating eight rooms in all. There is a small but very pleasant winter garden in the middle of the flat making the flat very light. We get along harmoniously together and appreciate one another's qualities. At the start we agreed on three conditions that we would all fullfill: we would meditate together in the mornings, we would eat one meal a day together, and we would have a community meeting once a week. On the whole we continue to follow these 'rules', we meditate at 7 o'clock, we eat breakfast together and we try to meet as a community regularly, even though we rarely meet as frequently as we would like.

Although we have quite different lifestyles and routines, we have the practice of the Dharma in common and this naturally forms a common bond between us all. Over the years our friendships have developed and I would say we have to some extent at least loosened our egoistic clinging to personal preferences. Although sometimes challenging, living in this way is definitely helpful to the pursuit of a spiritual life. Having lived in such communities since 1994 I have no doubts about their benefits.

Another year older and maybe a little wiser too

2010-03-01T23:58:00.004+01:00

It was my birthday yesterday. Thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes and cards and stuff. I am now fifty-three. I celebrated with breakfast in bed and a 20 KM run through Treptower Park in the morning, coffee and cake with a few close friends in the afternoon followed by supper with Claudia in our local restaurant, The Flying Table.

Among my presents was a DVD of Shostakovich against Stalin, which I am eager to watch as soon as I find time. Over the last year or so I have been dipping into Shostakovich and I have been much moved by his music, and the little I know of his life. I have particularly enjoyed listening to his 24 Preludes and Fugues, which I recently bought with a gift token I received for Christmas.

Although the snow had almost completely gone from the streets by Sunday morning, in the park there was still a good deal of slush and water underfoot. In the meantime the snow seems to have completely disappeared from the city's pavements, leaving behind an interesting mixture of debris dating back to the New Year's celebrations, two months accumulated litter and dog's mess, and tons of grit.

New Shoes

2010-02-22T23:34:00.009+01:00

I will certainly return to Runner's Point whenever I need to buy new running shoes again. I bought my first pair from them over 18 months ago and was impressed by the personal service and apparently expert advice. On top of that there was no attempt to sell me the most expensive shoes. I have to admit to being rather sceptical when I was told I could return the shoes if not fully satisfied after two or three weeks. As I was fully satisfied there wasn't any need.

So I naturally went back to the same branch well over a year later to buy replacements in October last year. I received a similar offer to bring them back in a couple of weeks if not fully satisfied. Unfortunately due to illness and a busy timetable I didn't get around to training much over the following five or six weeks. When I did manage to get out for more than a few kilometers I discovered that after about nine kilometers my right foot became very painful indeed. I still didn't manage to get back to the shop before last weekend, and had actually settled on having to buy another new pair. The shop assistant however, had no hesitation in offering to exchange the shoes - after four months - as well as dropping the price by 15,- Euros and throwing in a shirt for free! So now I have a pair of Asics GT-2150 which I put through their paces on Sunday during a 19km run along the snow covered banks of the River Spree in Treptower Park. No problems this time, and I am optimistic they will do the trick for the half marathon next month, and I have no doubts about recommending Runners' Point to others in the future.

What a great life

2010-02-15T23:13:00.005+01:00

I really enjoy my life these days. I managed to get out training again this morning after an unfortunate break of a whole week, on account of my busy schedule. I ran my usual 9.5 KM stretch along the Landwehr canal, at a reasonable pace and completing it in 52 minutes. Given the snow I think that's not a bad effort. I had to move fast to get to the Buddhist centre afterwards in order to lead the lunchtime meditation class again. There were ten people there, a satisfyingly large number. In the evening I led the first meeting of an Introduction to Buddhism course, again ten people attended. I've led this course many times over the last few years and I always enjoy the enthusiasm, curiosity and energetic engagement of the participants. I always feel I benefit from leading the course too, and feel priviledged that I can be involved in this way. I often ask myself, what have I done to deserve such a fulfilling life?

Living Practice

2010-02-11T22:50:00.004+01:00

This evening 13 people joined Satyasthira and me in our flat for the first evening of a seven-week 'Living Practice' course. I have led the course twice before and have personally benefitted a lot by doing so. It is an intensive mindfulness course, during which one undertakes a daily meditation and various mindfulness exercises, keeping a record of the practices in a journal. Each week one reviews with others the results of the weeks exercises. The course was initially put together by Maitreyabandhu from the London Buddhist Centre. He has recently published a book, entitled Life with Full Attention, based on his experiences of running the course.

Unfortunately I had another full day of meetings and appointments and missed another day's training, so have to be content with having trained my mind rather than my body today. All being well, I'll run tomorrow and again at the weekend, though it is still below freezing and the pavements are hazardous underfoot.

All Clear from the Doctor

2010-02-10T21:54:00.005+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I finally went to the doctor to ask his opinion about me running a marathon, and at the same time to ask about what kind of medical check-ups would be sensible, given that I passed the 50 mark nearly three years ago. So I had a blood test, an EKG, provided samples of this and that, and have been sent to various specialists to have further tests. He certainly didn't seem concerned about me running a marathon. Apparently my blood pressure is "perfect". So I now feel confident now about going public with my marathon attempt.

What is perhaps interesting is the fact that it took me nearly three years of talking about having a health check-up before I finally did it. On account of the fact that there is always plenty to do, I can always persuade myself that 'I don't have time'. Well, maybe part of me was really a bit scared about confronting the demons of old age, potential illness and death.

How am I kept busy? This is what I did today:

06.45 - got up
07.00 - meditation
08.15 - breakfast
09.00 - check e-mails, clean my room and prepare for my English student
10.00 - teach English
11.30 - visit from a friend from Hamburg
12.15 - travel to Buddhistisches Tor
13.00 - lead the lunchtime meditation class
14.45 - Chapter Meeting (with members of the Triratna/Western Buddhist Order)
17.20 - travel to Prenzlauerberg
18.00 - meeting with Cornelia and Roberta about Fundraising strategy for the new Buddhist centre
20.30 - travel home
21.15 - cook and eat supper, relax and chat with fellow community members
22.00 - check e-mails, write blog......

Tomorrow I hope there will be time to run again.

Winter Training

2010-02-08T23:20:00.003+01:00

When I came to Berlin nearly ten years ago, I often heard people bemoaning the long, grey winters. With the arrival of spring and the first warm days there seemed to be an exaggerated sense of relief and pleasure that the days of darkness were over. Well, in the meantime I have come to appreciate that winters here do tend to be long, drawn-out affairs. It can be very cold for weeks on end. Three years ago it snowed on Boxing Day and it finally thawed at the end of March. This year we seem to be on course for something similar.

On the whole training hasn't been too difficult, despite the weather; there has always been sufficiently fresh snow to prevent it becoming too icy underfoot. Unfortunately the snow has now been compressed into ice and the pavements are quite treacherous.

Start of the Training Plan

2010-01-19T09:44:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I began the ten-week training plan for the Berlin Half Marathon on 28th March with a 9.5 KM trott along the Landwehr Canal. Despite the icy conditions and occasional flurries of snow, I enjoyed it. It was not possible however to stay within the 70% of my HFmax (maximum heart frequency) which the plan demanded. To run so slowly is hardly possible, so I kept to around 80%. Even at this pace I would take considerably longer to complete a half marathon than I did last year. I'm going to give the plan the benefit of the doubt and trust in the cumulative effect of the training.

On Sunday I led the first event in the new premises of the Buddhist Gate Berlin in Kreuzberg, when around 35 members of the Berlin Sangha celebrated the first ground-breaking ceremony (Erster Spatenstich in German). We dedicated the event to the Buddha Ratnasambhava. The event lasted three hours and included a dedication ceremony, walking meditation, mantra-chanting, as well as chanting the Ratana Sutta. The ceremony concluded with a seven fold puja and finally we had hot chocolate and cake in a coffee shop nearby.

The start of the year

2010-01-04T22:59:00.004+01:00

I spent a very pleasant few days with Claudia in her weekend cottage in Luckenwalde over the new year period. Berlin can be a wild place at this time of year and we prefered to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside to the constant din of fireworks spread over several days that Berlin usually offers.

This year we had heaps of snow. I went for a run through the woods on January 1st in six inches of snow, which was very hard work, comparable Iin my opinion to running over sand dunes. The following day we had another six inches of snow and I haven't been running since. Even Berlin, to which I returned yesterday, is covered by a considerable coating of snow and ice. Tomorrow I'm off to Dhanakosa in Scotland for a meeting of European Buddhist centre Chairs. We'll see if the weather is any better there. When I return in a week's time, training for the Berlin half marathon on March 28th begins in earnest.

New Year Approaching

2009-12-29T23:16:00.003+01:00

The end of the year always feels like the appropriate time to take stock and reflect a little on the past, and maybe also to think about changes to introduce in the future. 2010 marks my tenth anniversary of having moved to Berlin as a result of an intuitive decision I made on waking up a few days after my ordination into the Western Buddhist Order in Guhyaloka in Spain in 1997. I was 40 and it really feels like my life began then. Because I had never been to Germany before, and being of a naturally somewhat sceptical nature, I visited the city a few times before following my intuition and actually starting a new life in a new country.

I have never regretted that decision. Although there have been periods where life has not been particularly easy, I have never seriously wanted to leave Berlin. Indeed, within a couple of years of my arrival, it was clear to me that Berlin would probably be my home for the rest of my life, however long that may be.

Registration

2009-12-17T00:34:00.003+01:00

I arrived home rather late this evening at midnight after a very pleasant end of year dinner with some of my English students, and having already decided to check on line whether registration for next year's Berlin marathon had opened, I was delighted to discover an e-mail inviting me to do just that. So now I have paid the 60,00 € fee and am registered. Immediately afterwards I registered for the Berlin Big 25 in May, which finishes in the Olympic stadium. I had hoped to participate in this year's run, but less than 24 hours before the start I became ill.

The Order Forum

2009-12-08T23:04:00.003+01:00

Yesterday evening I arrived home after a long weekend at Vimaladhatu in Sauerland. The event was the annual Central European Order Forum, a mix of retreat and convention, and was attended by around 30 members of the Western Buddhist Order (WBO) living in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Poland and Russia. Very harmonious and inspiring, the event gives us all a chance to catch up and appreciate each others' endeavours. Being set among wooded hills, the weekend gave me a chance to do some hill-training, something I'm not at all used to, since Berlin is very flat.

On Monday I stayed in Essen and spent the day with Jnanacandra, the Chair of the Essen Buddhist Centre, discussing issues of common interest.

A Weekend in Luckenwalde

2009-11-30T21:34:00.007+01:00

When time allows I often spend weekends with Claudia in her weekend cottage on the edge of Luckenwalde, a small town just a half hour train journey south of Berlin. This weekend we pruned a couple of fruit trees that had clearly grown too large, enjoyable and challenging work, which undoubtedly helped build up my arm muscles. It is remarkable how much wood accumulates from a few hours pruning. I totally enjoy working in the garden, something I have done on and off for many years.

On Friday I introduced some Fartlek into my training, which means occasionally increasing my pace for short periods, followed by a period of recovery. Today I ran 12.7 KM at a gentle pace.

How it all began

2009-11-25T22:15:00.004+01:00

I used to run as a child. My dad has been a runner as long as I've known him. Even now at 75 he runs 10KM faster than I can. Until I was 11 or 12 years old I used to run with him sometimes. I was a child member of Blackheath Harriers running club, occasionally even running in club events, including the 100 x 1 mile relay in 1969 to commemorate the club's centenary. In September 1967 when I was 10 years old, during a family caravaning holiday in Scotland, dad ran in a race up and down Ben Nevis. This photograph shows me running around the caravan site in Fort William. Around 1970 I stopped running. As a teenager it was no longer cool!

A Day in my Life: Tuesday

2009-11-24T23:27:00.003+01:00

Tuesday is usually a full day for me and today was no exception. It began when the alarm went off at 6.30. After a cup of tea I meditated with the others in the community from 7.00 until 8.00 and then helped to prepare breakfast which we routinely eat together from 8.30 to 9.00. After half an hour checking e-mails and catching up with the news from the BBC and the FWBO, I had a meeting for three quarters of an hour about the purchase of the new Buddhist Centre. Then a 20 minute cycle to the Buddhist Centre for a meeting of the Centre Team. Another couple of hours busying myself with e-mails and administration before going out for a bite to eat at the Chaussee Grill with Mathias, the centre manager. At 5.00pm I lead a small 'Buddhism in English' class which was immediately followed by Sangha evening. Back home on my bike, a half an hour telephone call with my mate Amrta in Norwich, England, and finally another check of e-mails and a brief blog-update. And now, its time for bed.

Busy days

2009-11-23T22:08:00.005+01:00

The days go by so fast with very little time to reflect on events and make comments here about them. Well, I have managed to get back to some kind of regular training, 10 KM three times a week. I also bought and have read Das Große Buch vom Marathon (The Big Book of the Marathon) by Hubert Beck, which is full of info and interesting facts about running. I could easily become an armchair marathon runner as an alternative to actually running one in September next year.

I've also started trying out running with a pulse monitor, which was lent to me almost a year ago, but I have only just managed to find time to read the instructions. Just used it twice so far so it's too early to say whether it will prove really useful.

Kiss Kaffee and St. Trinian's

2009-11-11T22:23:00.007+01:00

5 KM run this morning along the Landwehr Canal. My usual route. A rushed shower before heading off for breakfast with a friend in the Kiss Kaffee, an extremely tasteful and pleasant small cafe in Charlottenburg. I don't often get over to the West of the city. It has quite a different feel to my usual haunts around central and east Berlin, more affluent and less 'raw'.

This evening I watched a DVD of The Pure Hell of St Trinian's, a nostalgic trip back to the very English black and white world of 1960 politically incorrect humour.

Starting up

2009-11-10T19:53:00.002+01:00

Yesterday the Berliners celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. I arrived in Berlin just over nine years ago to help run the Buddhist Gate Berlin, a public centre run by the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. To celebrate my tenth anniversary of living here in September next year, I have decided to participate in the Berlin marathon. At the same time I hope to raise some funds towards the cost of the new Buddhist Gate Berlin, new premises we have bought and hope to move into around the start of 1011. If you want to help, please have a look at my JustGiving page.