weekly

DPS 周刊 148 - 跑步与写作

村上春树写过一本小书《当我谈论跑步的时候谈些什么》，书名的灵感来自 Raymond Carver 的 What We Talk About When We Talk About Love。其实这本书不仅仅谈论了他的跑步，还谈论了他的写作和他的人生。总之，这是一本内容极其丰富的小书。

村上春树庆幸长跑塑造了他，塑造了他的小说。他希望能一直跑下去，和长跑一起变老。他希望自己的墓志铭是这样的：村上春树，作者（跑者），至少他从没走过。

Long-distance running (more or less, for better or worse) has molded me into the person I am today, and I’m hoping it will remain a part of my life for as long as possible.

I’ll be happy if running and I can grow old together.

Focusing on each stride forward, but at the same time taking a long-range view, scanning the scenery as far ahead as I can. I am, after all, a long-distance runner.

For a runner like me, what’s really important is reaching the goal I set myself, under my own power.

Haruki Murakami 1949–20** Writer (and Runner) At Least He Never Walked

村上春树从1982年，也就是他33岁那年开始每天跑步，之所以能坚持这么久，是因为他觉得跑步适合他，另外一个诀窍就是，他从不连续中断两天。而他决定尝试小说创作是在1978年，在观看一场棒球比赛时突然灵感一现。

It was a long time ago that I first started running on an everyday basis. Specifically, it was the fall of 1982. I was thirty-three then.

The crack of bat meeting ball right on the sweet spot echoed through the stadium. Hilton easily rounded first and pulled up to second. And it was at that exact moment that a thought struck me: You know what? I could try writing a novel. I still can remember the wide open sky, the feel of the new grass, the satisfying crack of the bat. Something flew down from the sky at that instant, and whatever it was, I accepted it.

I think I’ve been able to run for more than twenty years for a simple reason: It suits me.

I never take two days off in a row.

在村上春树看来，跑步的痛苦在所难免。这份痛苦与疲惫正好让他意识到自己的弱点。这与他的人生态度一致，即通过痛苦的经历来提高自己。最妙的是，他说，相比坐班通勤的痛苦，跑步的痛苦根本不算什么。

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

By running longer it’s like I can physically exhaust that portion of my discontent. It also makes me realize again how weak I am, how limited my abilities are.

If I’m angry, I direct that anger toward myself. If I have a frustrating experience, I use that to improve myself. That’s the way I’ve always lived.

It’s precisely because of the pain, precisely because we want to overcome that pain, that we can get the feeling, through this process, of really being alive—or at least a partial sense of it.

You’re able to make a living as a novelist, working at home, setting your own hours, so you don’t have to commute on a packed train or sit through boring meetings. Don’t you realize how fortunate you are? (Believe me, I do.) Compared to that, running an hour around the neighborhood is nothing, right?

所有的跑者都有一个共同的目标，就是打破一个具体的时间。村上春树当时的目标是在三个半小时内跑完全马。

Most ordinary runners are motivated by an individual goal, more than anything: namely, a time they want to beat.

My peak as a runner came in my late forties. Before then I’d aimed at running a full marathon in three and a half hours, a pace of exactly one kilometer in five minutes, or one mile in eight.

Even if the skill level varies, there are things that only runners understand and share. I truly believe that.

对于他而言，跑步的一大好处就是独处，可以直面虚无。这是他每天都需要的。这也让他可以听从内心的声音。

The desire in me to be alone hasn’t changed. Which is why the hour or so I spend running, maintaining my own silent, private time, is important to help me keep my mental well-being.

When I’m running I don’t have to talk to anybody and don’t have to listen to anybody. All I need to do is gaze at the scenery passing by. This is a part of my day I can’t do without.

I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void.

Being active every day makes it easier to hear that inner voice.

他自认为缺少天分，但是勤能补拙。为了写小说，他去买了一只便宜的钢笔，然后关了还在赚钱的爵士酒吧。当时他和妻子说，给他两年时间，如果不行的话，他再回去开爵士酒吧。

My only strength has always been the fact that I work hard and can take a lot physically. I’m more a workhorse than a racehorse.

I’m no great runner, but I’m definitely a strong runner. That’s one of the very few gifts I can be proud of.

When I thought about sitting down at my desk at home and setting out to write I realized I didn’t even own a decent fountain pen. So I went to the Kinokuniya store in Shinjuku and bought a sheaf of manuscript paper and a five-dollar Sailor fountain pen. A small capital investment on my part.

I decided to close the business for a while and concentrate solely on writing. At this point my income from the jazz club was more than my income as a novelist, a reality I had to resign myself to.

“I’d just like to be free for two years to write,” I explained to my wife. “If it doesn’t work out we can always open up another little bar somewhere. I’m still young and we can always start over.” “All right,” she said.

经营爵士酒吧是体力活，所以不用担心身材。写小说是脑力活，还一直坐着，所以村上春树难免发胖。于是他决定开始跑步。

A problem arose, though, with my decision to become a professional writer: the question of how to keep physically fit.

And luckily there was also a training ground in the neighborhood owned by Nihon University, and if I went early in the morning I could freely use—or perhaps I should say borrow without permission—their track.

开始写作之后，他可以自行安排时间，于是他变得早睡早起。在和 Paul Theroux 的面谈中，他坦承自己四点起床，写到十点，然后就是自由时间。想跑步就跑步，想干嘛就干嘛。除了时间自由，他还可以选择想见什么人，见什么人。所以他可以大隐于市。

The happiest thing about becoming a professional writer was that I could go to bed early and get up early.

We’d closed the club, so we also decided that from now on we’d meet with only the people we wanted to see and, as much as possible, get by not seeing those we didn’t.

他认为作为小说家有几个要点：天分，专注和持久。这和跑步非常相似。

In every interview I’m asked what’s the most important quality a novelist has to have. It’s pretty obvious: talent.

The problem with talent, though, is that in most cases the person involved can’t control its amount or quality.

Talent has a mind of its own and wells up when it wants to, and once it dries up, that’s it.

If I’m asked what the next most important quality is for a novelist, that’s easy too: focus—the ability to concentrate all your limited talents on whatever’s critical at the moment.

After focus, the next most important thing for a novelist is, hands down, endurance.

If concentration is the process of just holding your breath, endurance is the art of slowly, quietly breathing at the same time you’re storing air in your lungs. Unless you can find a balance between both, it’ll be difficult to write novels professionally over a long time. Continuing to breathe while you hold your breath.

The remaining majority of writers who can’t reach such heights (including me, of course) have to supplement what’s missing from their store of talent through whatever means they can. Otherwise it’s impossible for them to keep on writing novels of any value.

In any event, I’m happy I haven’t stopped running all these years. The reason is, I like the novels I’ve written.

他多次参加纽约马拉松，因为十一月是纽约最美的季节。为了准备纽约全马，他还买了新的美津浓跑鞋 -- 跑鞋届的斯巴鲁。

It’s just over a month until the New York City Marathon. About time I cut back on the mileage and get rid of the exhaustion I’ve built up.

I also bought some new Mizuno running shoes. At City Sports in Cambridge I tried on all kinds of models, but ended up buying the same Mizunos I’ve been practicing in. They’re light, and the cushioning of the sole is a little hard. As always, they take a while to get used to.

The Subaru of the shoe world, in other words.

Every time I visit New York to run the marathon (this will be the fourth time) I remember the beautiful, smart ballad by Vernon Duke, “Autumn in New York.”

New York in November really does have a special charm to it. The air is clear and crisp, and the leaves on the trees in Central Park are just beginning to turn golden. The sky is so clear you can see forever, and the skyscrapers lavishly reflect the sun’s rays.

写作并不是健康的工作，所以他要靠跑步来抵消这部分的不健康。写作对他而言更像是攀登高山，只有克服自己的弱点才能抵达顶峰，不然就抵达不了。

Basically I agree with the view that writing novels is an unhealthy type of work.

To deal with something unhealthy, a person needs to be as healthy as possible.

The physical vitality that up till now was naturally able to overcome the toxin has passed its peak, and its effectiveness in their immune systems is gradually wearing off.

For me, writing a novel is like climbing a steep mountain, struggling up the face of the cliff, reaching the summit after a long and arduous ordeal. You overcome your limitations, or you don’t, one or the other.

对他而言，用外语演讲时全新的挑战。而跑步时，他可以斟词酌句，在心中排练。

Once I try to put together a talk in a foreign language, though, inevitably my linguistic choices and possibilities are limited: much as I love reading books in English, speaking in English is definitely not my forte. But that makes me feel all the more comfortable giving a speech.

I have to choose words that are easy to pronounce so people can understand me, and remember to get the audience to laugh to put them at ease. I have to convey to those listening a sense of who I am.

Running is a great activity to do while memorizing a speech.

As, almost unconsciously, I move my legs, I line the words up in order in my mind.

跑完马拉松的下一站是100公里的超级马拉松。他参加了位于北海道的佐吕间湖的超级马拉松。当他在极度疲惫中，仍能往前跑时，他觉得这是一大奢求。

This sixty-two-mile ultramarathon takes place every year at Lake Saroma, in June, in Hokkaido.

After twenty-six miles there’s a checkpoint about every six miles, and if you exceed the time limit when you pass, you’re automatically disqualified.

I changed my New Balance ultramarathon shoes (there really are such things in the world) from a size eight to an eight and a half.

If I sat down, I felt, I’d never be able to get up and start running again.

A lot of other runners were doing just that. Giving their legs a rest as they walked. But I didn’t walk a single step. I stopped a lot to stretch, but I never walked.

While I was enduring all this, around the forty-seventh mile I felt like I’d passed through something. That’s what it felt like. Passed through is the only way I can express it. Like my body had passed clean through a stone wall. At what exact point I felt like I’d made it through, I can’t recall, but suddenly I noticed I was already on the other side.

I was in the midst of deep exhaustion that I’d totally accepted, and the reality was that I was still able to continue running, and for me there was nothing more I could ask of the world.

对他而言，一场比赛的结束只是一个暂时的标记，就像我们的生命一样。而他的目标有三个：跑到终点，不停下来走，享受比赛。

Since I was on autopilot, if someone had told me to keep on running I might well have run beyond sixty-two miles. It’s weird, but at the end I hardly knew who I was or what I was doing.

The end of the race is just a temporary marker without much significance. It’s the same with our lives.

Reaching the finish line, never walking, and enjoying the race. These three, in this order, are my goals.

跑了超马之后，就是铁人三项。他又孜孜不倦地开始准备铁人三项。为了降低风阻，铁人三项中的骑行姿势和一般的骑行不太一样，很容易疲惫。他在一次练习中，因为疲惫而导致撞车受伤。于是他感悟道，这和生活中学习很多新事物一样，都难以避免痛苦。

The one I’m using now is a light-as-a-feather Panasonic titanium sports bike, which I’ve been using for the last seven years.

On the body of the bike is written “18 Til I Die,” the name of a Bryan Adams hit. It’s a joke, of course. Being eighteen until you die means you die when you’re eighteen.

The first thing to remember when you ride a competitive bike is to lean forward as much as possible to be more aerodynamic—especially to keep your face forward and up.

Very quickly your back and neck start to scream. When you get exhausted your head tends to drop and you look down, and once that happens all the dangers lurking out there strike.

In most cases learning something essential in life requires physical pain.

In his book the triathlete Dave Scott wrote that of all the sports man has invented, cycling has got to be the most unpleasant of all. I totally agree.

在波士顿居住时，他可以逛很多二手唱片店，于是囤积了大量黑胶。

What were the main things I did while in Cambridge? Basically, I confess, I bought a ton of LPs.

Seventy percent of the records I bought were jazz, the rest classical, plus a few rock records. I’m a very (or perhaps I should say extremely) enthusiastic record collector. Shipping all these records back to Japan was no mean feat.

Ever since I was fifteen I’ve bought a huge number of records, and gotten rid of a huge number. The turnover is so fast I can’t keep track of the total.

If somebody asks me how many records I have, all I can say is, “Seems like I have a whole lot. But still not enough.”

Whenever I find a quality LP recording of a piece I have on CD, I don’t hesitate to sell the CD and buy the LP. And when I find a better-quality recording, something closer to the original, I don’t hesitate to trade in the old LP for a new one.

在写这本书时，他已经跑了二十四场马拉松。当他给自己定下的规矩是，每年只跑一场全马。开始铁三之后，就变成了冬天跑马，夏天铁三。

I did complete the run, after a fashion, which means I maintained my record of completing every marathon I’ve been in (a total of twenty-four now).

As a rule I run only one marathon a year, but since the New York City Marathon left such a bad taste in my mouth I decided to give it another try.

This was my seventh time running the Boston Marathon.

Running a marathon during the cold months and taking part in a triathlon during the summer has become the cycle of my life.

铁人三项中，最难准备的是游泳。为此，他找了不少教练。最后在妻子的推荐下，找了一位教练，总算帮他调整了泳姿。

It’s difficult to teach how to write novels (at least I know I couldn’t), but teaching swimming is just as hard.

Instead, she revised very small movements I made, one by one, over an extended period of time.

Take body rotation, for instance. To get her pupil to learn the correct way, she starts out by teaching how to swim without any rotation.

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Recap

发布第一篇 AwesomeVisa Exodus 文章，已经是三年前的3月7日。当时的契机是，国内某个平台找我们有偿约稿，等到要发布了，他们说话题敏感，就不了了之。于是我们就开始独立发布这个以技术移民为主题的电子报，一直坚持了三年。我们也没想到这一原创文章的系列能维持这么久。

我们也希望能够写出更多能够帮到大家的文章，所以如果你有什么问题的话，不妨告诉我们：

可以在 X 上给我们留言；
可以在 Telegram 上给我们留言；
可以写邮件给我们：workshop (2) awesomevisa.com

AwesomeVisa Exodus 第三季每个月坚持更新四篇，一共发布了40篇文章。这个更新强度确实有些大，所以第四季会稍微降低一些强度，每个月会更新三篇，即每个月的1号，11号和21号会发布一篇文章。目前的计划是：

1号的更新会专注在技术移民的准备工作；
11号的更新会专注回答大家的问题；
21号的更新会专注回顾最近一个月的政策更新和热门话题；

为了感谢大家的支持，我们继续推出一个首年订阅优惠，只要八折就能畅享一年的 AwesomeVisa：https://exodus.awesomevisa.com/cny

Herbert Lui 分享了他如何兼顾写作和本职工作：

保证优先度：想清楚自己要什么
保持灵活性：见缝插针，随时创作
紧随思绪：跟着大脑走，这样就能更好地保持精力
不断练习：如果不练习就不可能变好，坚持练习至少有可能变好
保持驱动力：如果坚信什么，那就坚持去做

自从五年前，Kevin Kelly 都会在自己的生日写下一些人生经验。这些宝贵的经验已经集结出版 -- Excellent Advice for Living。今年也不例外，Kevin 分享了101条人生经验，其中一些让我茅塞顿开：

Here are the translations from English to Chinese:

批评的最好方式是做得更好。
拥抱别人时，要最后一个放手。
不要把好东西（如精美的葡萄酒或瓷器）留到几乎不会发生的特殊场合；应该尽可能经常使用它们。
永远不要犹豫投资自己——支付课程、培训、新技能的费用。这些小投资将带来巨大的回报。
在父母还在人世时采访他们。录音的同时不停地提问。你会发现很多惊惊喜。
购买任何实物（纪念品、家具、书籍、工具、鞋子、设备）时，问自己：这将放在哪里？除非有合适的位置，否则不要购买。
你应该给每个人第二次机会，但没有第三次。
但你应该给每个人——即使是你不喜欢的人——基本的尊重。
当有人发短信说他们会迟到时，将他们说的时间翻倍。
你可以通过比任何人都更关心某件事来成为世界上最好的。

如果你加入一个新的团队，不太认同他们的某些做法，应该怎么办？

Nat Bennett 给出了一个很好的思路：

准备一个 WTF 笔记本；
认真观察，把所有看不惯的做法都先记录下来；
继续观察，把其中一部分内容化掉：
1. 要么这些做法自有它们的原因；
2. 要么这个团队已经在修复这些问题；
3. 要么这个团队根本不关心这一问题；
4. 要么这一问题有很简单的解决措施；
这样观察了几周之后，如果还有一些问题剩在 WTF 笔记本上，Nat 就会和他上司讨论这些问题。他会问为什么会这样，怎么会变成这样。

这样做的好处是，既显得他很好奇并且对团队很热情，同时又有耐心，而且尊重其他团队成员。

如果一个道理在两个不同领域都成立，那么这样的道理是不是尤为有用？ Morgan Housel 认为这是肯定的：

一开始生长比较慢的鱼反而活得时间更长，做企业也是这样；
热力学第二定律可以解释为什么进入一个天才云集的行业会有很多竞争，但是进入一个没有什么天才的领域更容易做出成绩；
托克维尔悖论 (Tocqueville Paradox) 可以用来解释人们的预期增长得比他们的生活水平快，所以富裕社会里有更多不开心的人；
统计学里的克伦威尔定律 (Cromwell’s rule) 告诉我们永远不要说什么不可能发生，因为再小的概率放到足够长的时间维度里，也有发生的概率。

Josh Dzieza 为 The Verge 写的这篇海底电缆修复的深度报道非常精彩，图文并茂，还有恰到好处的可视化：

鲨鱼并不会咬坏海底电缆。事实上，最容易破坏海底电缆的还是人类自己，首屈一指的是拖网渔船，其次就是船下锚；
最深的海底电缆在还在八公里的深处。文中的 Ocean Link 曾经修复过 6200 米深处的海底电缆；
全世界有超过100万公里的海底电缆，几乎每天都有海底电缆受损。如果不是有冗余，互联网早就罢工了。
事实上，2011年的日本311大地震切断了日本12条跨太平洋海底电缆中的7条，差点切断日本与美国之间的互联网通信
而能修复的海底电缆修复船不过二十几条，大多数都已超期服役。
大家现在更热衷于修建新的海底电缆，尤其是互联网巨头都倾向于构建自己的海底电缆，从而获得更便宜的流量。这一方面使得海底电缆的维护工作爆炸式增长，另一方面却让它们的议价权被削弱。