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  "description": "A love-letter to running.",
  "path": "/connecting-the-dots/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-30T21:02:43.000Z",
  "site": "https://mnchrm.co",
  "tags": [
    "membership",
    "Retro",
    "Buy me a coffee"
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  "textContent": "I started running in college for two reasons. The first is just that as I was on my own for the first time, free from gym class or house league sports, I wanted some way to keep in shape. The second is because I had heard Murakami was running, so it seemed like as good an exercise as any. I was never a serious runner back then—in hindsight, I can only see how unserious I was—but I managed to slowly establish a practice of running a couple of times a week. It helped that I lived right along the lake, had a route laid out for me, but I like to think I would’ve run regardless.\n\nI mostly ran alone, though occasionally ran with friends before they stopped wanting to go. Now in Tokyo, I mostly run in groups, though running alone is just as well with me. I still think of myself as a casual runner, but I have to admit my abilities have improved. Not uncommon for me to run a 10k now, a feat that seemed unthinkable to me a couple of years ago.\n\nI like running. It feels like a very minimal activity. Even if you go nuts on the gear, you’re still just down a pair of shoes, shorts, and a t-shirt to get started. It’s something that can be done anywhere. It can be done alone or with friends. The barrier to entry is very low, yet the road to mastery is infinitely long. It’s something that can take the human body to its limit—just this month _two_ people broke the marathon record, sub-2-hours! It’s deeply pleasurable to see something in the distance, think _that’s so far away!_ and then find yourself there only a little while later. It’s a way you can push yourself to do just a little more than you thought you could; every single day, if you’d like.\n\n* * *\n\n_If you enjoyed this issue, consider joining my_ membership_program, The Order of the Black Lotus. For the price of a cup of coffee in Tokyo ($3/month or $30/year), you not only support my writing and photography, but I’ll send you a**handwritten, one-of-one postcard from me in Tokyo** —a tangible piece of my journey, just for you. You’ll also get access to all **exclusive posts** , and an invitation to **my private photography feed on**_ Retro_._\n\nJOIN THE ORDER OF THE BLACK LOTUS\n\n _Joining is the most meaningful way to ensure this work continues, and I thank you for your support!_\n\n* * *\n\nRunning feels very primal to me. I like the feeling of using my body in the world, can almost feel myself connected to every other person in history who’d run like this.\n\nRunning is not easy. There are days where the idea of getting up and going for a run is tortuous. It is hard on the body. My knee pain has subsided since I started lifting more, got stronger, but it always looms in the back of my head. Sometimes you get a cramp. Sometimes you can’t get into a rhythm with your stride, your breath. Running is something I might become unable to do; that’s all the more reason why I want to do it _now_ , while I can.\n\nBut beyond all of this, running connects me to the city in a way I don’t get otherwise. With photography, I often find myself just picking a neighborhood, and building out a map as I wander its streets. This is a highly-engaging practice, but it’s relatively small-scale—and Tokyo is a large-scale city. I don’t yet have a bicycle here, but while biking connects you to the world around you, it’s in a different way. The city moves too fast, and being in the flow of traffic is different from pounding your feet into the pavement. Running grounds you.\n\n0:00\n\n/0:04\n\n1×\n\nIt’s mostly by running across the city that I start to connect these dots, filling in the gaps between areas I knew well and areas I’ve never been before. It shows me neighborhoods I’m familiar with from a new angle; sometimes, literally taking the same route in reverse opens your eyes to a new way of seeing.\n\nNow as I make my way across Tokyo, I’m thrilled by how much more familiar it’s all become to me. Yet the city still manages to surprise. It’s such a fun moment of insight when I realize that this place was actually right next to this other place, or can finally see how certain areas connect and blur into one another. I like feeling the transition between the neighborhoods, seeing the city shift before my eyes.\n\nI’m still getting my feet wet as a runner. Lifting still takes priority for me, at least for now; but I have bigger goals for running on the horizon. For now, I’m just happy to be able to get out there, and keep racking up the kilometers.\n\n* * *\n\n## Subscribe to Refrakt\n\nA bi-weekly newsletter on curiosity, creativity, and (hopefully!) insight, through the lens of photography, writing, study, art and beauty, and my life.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nJoin 150+ members on the path.\n\nBuy me a coffee",
  "title": "Connecting the Dots",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-30T21:02:44.356Z"
}