WHY I RUN

WHY I RUN

I run to:
Purge the falsehoods I have had about my limits; to enlarge and redefine the world within myself; to explore new worlds and stake a claim there—forever changed and forever changing .

A new world; a new me, to be discovered in the miles. The world appears wider, larger than before and I seem bigger, taller, peering from the mountain through the haze of pleasant fatigue, soothed in the balm of that glimpse of glory which can be found in humble, trivial and otherwise meaningless pursuit.

An Impulse to Soar

It will be two weeks tomorrow since the surgery and recovery is much better than expected. I can't run or swim yet and can't road bike either, but I can walk. Walked briskly for over an hour this morning and rode my indoor trainer for an hour also. Down time has tried to seduce me but today when I felt the sweat, I knew this is my home. And like a homesick child, I have such pent up need to feel that sweat on my brow and to hear the sound of my own heightened breathing. Like Helen Keller wrote, "One cannot consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar." God willing I will be "soaring" again tomorrow.

He's 64

I never get tired or complacent about finishing an event. There is, for me, such a feeling of exaltation and thankfulness as I come down the last stretch to the finish line. And, I have been doing runs, bike events, and triathlons now for over 27 years but I still just love it. A friend my age who no longer participates as I do, asked me if I still have trouble sleeping the night before an event. Thankfully, I could answer yes. I guess when I can sleep like a baby the night before an event, I should just take up TV channel surfing or some more sedentary pursuit. But after hundreds of events, my hair is still on fire so to speak and I still smile when I think of those last few yards to the finish line. At the event in the photo, I was the oldest participant at that event. The announcer called out my name as I was coming down and said, "He's 64 years old." I heard several in the crowd murmur, "he's 64." Maybe in this sport I am an aberration, a dinousaur among gazelles, but I am still smiling when I cross that finish line.

Change

Life is change. From the cradle to the grave, life is changing for us and all about us. In the face of that, it might be said that resilience and adaptability would be a couple indispensable attributes to deal with the life that will be coming at us; changing on us.

I wasn't born graceful and consequently have taken a lot of falls. Constant practice made me good at taking a fall. God left me clumsy but He gave me an instinctive awareness that I need to roll when I fall to minimize damage. Life seems to be about falling well enough to get back up and keep moving forward, wiser from the added experience.

Two days post-op rotator cuff surgery, I am in my roll trying to come out of my fall. God has taught me to roll when I fall and get up and run again. God willing, I will.

The Beauty of Triathlon Swimming

Somewhere along the way the mind and body make peace with the water and the oneness of the expereience bypasses exercise or the distance of the course. Most triathlon swims begin with a "I will be glad when it is over" and end with "oh no, is it over so soon?"