Sunday, April 27, 2008

Love don't watch me walk away

I love runners. More specifically I love serious, dedicated runners. I love people who are far beyond me in their talent and capabilities yet they are the only group of people who understand the sacrifice you make for running.

Don't get me wrong, I think its great whenever one of my friends decides to take up running. I love discussing with them the importance of getting good shoes or the right shorts. I could go on forever discussing different trails and routes areas and times to avoid. What to eat before a race, what to eat while your training, various blisters and treatments, the whole nine yards. I could go on forever. But whenever I mention the fact that I run in the rain, in the heat, in the snow, in the sleet (I had to make it rhyme, cheesy I know) these rookies simply wrinkle up their noses at even the thought of unpleasantness.

Of course I have years to go before I could ever match the level of fitness of the runners I idolize. The college track teams that glide by me on my Saturday long runs as I struggle to get my mileage up again. I watch them breeze by me as if I were out for a stroll and I smile becuase for the next minute I get to stare at their backs. Their perfectly sculpted backs naked of clothing but covered in sweat catching the light and enhancing the definition of their perfect muscles. I smile to myself and the runner approaching me from the other direction thinks this is directed at him and he shoots a smile back at me. Silly man. I do not idolize you. You are not a perfectly chiseled human sculpture.

I can only imagine what it must feel like to be that in shape. I mean does it actually feel diffrent? I would think you would hurt far more, becuase you would work far more. But do you become numb to the pain, much like I have grown numb to a lot of the pain. Things that would make me stop or turn around before finishing my milage a year ago only cause a nagging distraction. But I have come up with a new (probably unhealthy) motto. Run through it. to be more specific, run through it for two miles or so and see if it goes away. Nine times out of ten its gone, and there is something else wrong, to which I say the same thing, Run through it see if it goes away.

For me the hardest part of this whole end ever is in my head. My body is more than capable of running the miles. I know this. and most times when I start to feel tired I have to assess my body and think, ok do my legs really hurt that much or do I have some juice left in them. There is always plenty of juice its just a matter of convincing yourself to keep going. Keep pushing.

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