We’re all runners. We’re all completely different.
We get out of bed, pull our running britches on one leg at a time. Exactly the same up to that point. Its that first step that sets everyone apart from the other. We all run for our own reasons. And those reasons change through the course of a career.
There are runners very much better than you. There are runners not nearly as good as you. Those truisms never change. This column’s stock and trade has been heralding excellence at the highest individual level. Insisting on it. Pace irrelevant as long as the effort is true.
Do the terms “better” and “winner” upset your running apple cart? Are your emotions stirred by competition? This is the delineator of our sport. Non competitive runners experience our sport on a different level all together. They miss out on the visceral rewards of challenging others, the thrill of conquest. Acceptance of pain and suffering as conduit to self realization, measure of a Real Runner. Matters not if first or worst, if you are willing to dip deep into the dark well of personal limitation, you are on my side of the ledger. If you never “go there” you are missing out on the finest of what running has to offer. And probably have no interest in this column.
Linda and I are back to training with consistency. Daily workouts designed to incrementally increase our fitness levels with a goal of racing before year’s end. Coming to get you.
Our latest training digs include plenty of hills and long stretches of dirt roads. Perfect for this old body’s prep to return to competition.
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