August 26, 2002
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:A body not in MoDotion
I think Andrew Ferguson wrote the column Maureen Dowd meant to write when she scratched out this garbage - ably dissected by Stuart Buck.
And I say that not as an occasional Bush supporter, but as a runner. The full interview and some other features are posted at the Runner's World site:
On Sundays if I’m at Camp David, I’ll go for a hard, morning run—these days about 20:30 to 20:45 for 3 miles on a tough course—and then I’ll go walk 2 to 4 miles with Laura {the First Lady} afterward.gee thanks for that {hint} about Ms. Bush - whoda known?
The President is in good shape. He apparently runs those kind of times six times a week. If you can run a given pace six times a week without injury, your "race pace" is going to be significantly faster. The President's race pace might be another minute faster. Three miles in well under 20 minutes is excellent for a guy in his 50s. I'm 38 and run regularly (generally longer and slower than Bush). With those times the President can probably take me in a 5k.
I'm mystified at the way Dowd (and others) make so much of the time Bush takes for personal health and family. Especially after all the arguments made by the same parties about certain illegitimate uses of the Oval Office and executive...um..persuasion of his predecessor. It isn't just catty and trivial, it's snobby and backwards.
Bush openly admits in the interview MoDo cites that running was an important part of reforming his lifestyle. Most of us who run (or bike, or row, or what-have-you) recognize the therapeutic value of exercise. A few years ago, I learned that runnning keeps me from getting depressed. It's hard to underestimate the importance of not being depressed to your functioning with your family and at work. I recognize all the qualities cited by Bush in running:
- "helps me sleep at night"
- "keeps me disciplined"
- "breaks up my day and allows me to recharge my batteries"
- "has helped me in times of enormous stress
Anyone who thinks the President is lazy should look again. The guy is squeezing his exercise into a long day:
Running is just a part of my routine. I go to work a little before 7 a.m. and I expect everybody to show up on time when I have a meeting. I make time to run or exercise every day. There’s never a question in my mind that I’ll exercise. Even when I travel, there’s always a treadmill in my room. I have a treadmill on Air Force One. On long trips—for example, when I went to Europe recently—I ran for an hour on the flight over there. When I came back from China, I ran on the flight.
Furthermore. he's sounding positively Clintonesque about others doing the same:
Exercise is so important that corporate America should help their employees make time. Offer flex time. There should be flex time for families and there should be flex time for exercise. A healthy work force is a more productive work force. We have got to do a better job of encouraging that in America.
I realize that Dowd is complaining about the President not making the case for war. But her criticism is akin to us saying MoDo's column isn't better because she couldn't fit the quality writing time in around a doctor visit.
It sounds to me like she isn't that familiar with having a fitness regimen. That may explain a lot - the peculiar mindset giving rise to her uneven recent work and, in turn, perhaps even that guy problem about which her friend fibbed so gently. She should get out and have a run. It would clear her head.
Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at August 26, 2002 9:41 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links