A good friend of mine sent me this quote as he thought it was appropriate for someone with a running affliction. I wanted to share this with you...
"At least I was fit. I ran thirty miles a week. I had begun during a period of my life when I felt I had little control over anything. Things were happening and I could do nothing to stop them, so I looked for control elsewhere.
I sought sovereignty over myself. I wanted change, some sort of escape or transformation.
I ran everyday back then, as far and as hard as I could. When I got back from a run, I’d pull my soaking training gear off and stand in front of the mirror. My gut disappeared. My chest filled out. My muscles got hard. My face got thin. I had my hair razored down.
I shaped my body to the force of my will . . .
. . . I still ran hard. I waited for the endorphin high, my chemical reward. It didn’t come every night, but when it did, my mind reached. My imagination became fierce. I made decisions. I empowered myself.
In uncertain times, the road was an absolute. It could not be cheated or duped; I could only do that to myself. I never did though. It was a pure thing. It liberated me.
. . . when I went out in the rain or cold late at night, and ran past houses with people sitting inside, I felt separate from them, I felt superior to them. I knew something that they didn’t.
Every now and again, I’d pass someone going to a gym in expensive gear, or out with a personal trainer, or I’d overhear people talking about their diets and weight and what they were going to do about it, and I’d laugh at them. These people didn’t need personal trainers. They didn’t need gym fees or Stairmasters. They didn’t need Lycra or diet books.
They needed determination. They needed asceticism. They needed to alleviate their weakness, their softness of mind. They needed to want this more than they wanted that."
Every runner inspires me.
Happy running,
Andy
www.ultrarunning.com.au