After heading out into the morning sun for a run yesterday, I felt like I was reconnecting with a long lost soul mate. I can’t understand exactly why I like running now… when I once regarding it with disdain or something I would do only if a bear was chasing me. Maybe it is the runner’s high. I definitely have felt that at times during runs and afterwards.
Once I thought that I would find meaning through my running… like I’d one day run up on a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, of have a great revelation that changed my life. The truth is much more subtle… and you’d have to view a much wider expanse of my life to see it.
If I could glance and the pre-running me at 50… and the post running me at 50, the difference I am sure, will be striking. Long distance running can be that way. It unfolds at a leisurely pace. Hills that seem frozen in the distance turn into hills sliding away behind you, and all the while you can hardly tell you are moving.
It is not much harder to run 20 miles than 1 if you are in shape for the journey. (Well… assuming you are NOT in shape to run that 1 mile) I can remember a time when running 1 mile was a big deal for me. I’d tell a friend and they were in awe (as we drank our 10th beer of the night).
I don’t know how long I will keep running. I am still not even back into my grove. I did learn one thing though… by trying the 22 or whatever week training plan… is that it is certainly possible to get burned out. I maintained focus on that schedule for months… and then just LOST it. One day complete dedication… the next I fumbled it away. It took me a few weeks to realize it… and by then… I just couldn’t muster the energy to restart.
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