February 24, 2022 - A short essay on the differences and similarities between masculine and feminine running

I like running fast, but not right away. I like running slowly first. I do not like when people describe running slowly as warming up. When I am running slowly I like running slowly for its own sake ––– not in the hopes that I’ll be able to run fast later.

I see running slowly and running fast as two different acts. They’re both forms of loving the body and communing with one’s soul, but their forms are very different. I think of running slowly as integrating all that is maternal into the body, drawing out one’s feminine side –––– luxurious and beautiful ––– there is all the time in the world and right now this running thing is only about pleasure. Those are the words of feminine running.

Masculine running ––– or running fast, or running for pace and time ––– resides at the other end of the spectrum. Masculine running is goal oriented; it is focused on pushing the body to and past its limits.

The term masculine running is not intended to indicate that only men can or should run fast. The term feminine running is not intended to indicate that only women can or should run slowly. I am referring to energetic principles of gender which can serve as a basis for understanding and deciding how we wish to exist within and move through the world. The masculine always includes the feminine and the feminine always includes the masculine.

For instance and with regard to masculine running, the beauty and secret of masculine running is the fact that if it is attempted without a deep understanding and appreciation for feminine running, then it will never reach its full potential. Here is another way of saying this: when I know how to feel good in my body while running, running fast becomes easier.

Masculine running appears to be more challenging than feminine running because through masculine running you’re asking the body to perform very specific and measurable tasks ––– to get from one location to another within a certain amount of time. However, feminine running is just as difficult. The only difference is that the goal of feminine running, to feel an overflowing and deep sense of pleasure in your body, is more difficult to measure.

It is a mistake to think that either of these forms of running are more useful than the other. Although their methods are different, their goal is the same: to experience closer forms of perfection and degrees of strength within one’s physical body ––– and by extension, one’s soul.

Within this very short essay on the differences and similarities between masculine and feminine running I have already expounded (though briefly) on how feminine running can assist and add to masculine running. Before ending this essay I will touch (again, briefly) on how masculine running assists and adds to feminine running.

Before doing so I will admit that the connection is less obvious and that I’ve had to think about this one; whereas, with the opposite (how feminine running assists masculine running), I’ve intuitively known the answer because I have felt it in my body again and again over many years.

This gap in knowledge may be due to the fact as a man I am more used to examining and enjoying all of the ways that feminine energy supports me; and by contrast, I am less attuned to how masculine energy has added to all that is feminine within me. Regardless, still, there is a part of me that is feminine and at the very least, I can consider how the masculine within me has supported and helped that which is feminine within me throughout the years.

I’ve got it: the body that has allowed itself to be pushed to and past its limits through masculine running is stronger and more physically fit than it would be had it only participated in feminine running. Said otherwise, a body that has not been tested and challenged through masculine running loses out on opportunities to gain strength; and that strength plays a vital role in the body’s ability to experience pleasure. The better and stronger I feel in my body, the deeper the sense of pleasure and enjoyment I’ll be able to gain from feminine running.

Here is the central thesis, which I have placed at the very end of this short essay on the differences and similarities between masculine and feminine running: masculine running is feminine running and feminine running is masculine running. They are two sides of the same coin. Yet, if I could travel back in time and start running all over again ––– still, and always ––– I would begin with feminine running. Feel good first. You can always add grand goals and daring challenges later, if you wish.