Thoughts on the Run

Let’s just say I have taken the past 3 weeks off from running. There have been the occasional 6 mile runs here and maybe 3 miles there, but in my mind, I haven’t been running. 10 miles a week doesn’t make for a fun marathon letalone the 50k ultramarathon I have in a week. Of course, that’s the 50k last year that handed me my first DNF and put me in an ambulance. Let’s try not to repeat that. I’m sure I can catch up on ultra training in a week for that. Mental games.

What’s my reason for not running? Oh I can come up with lots of those:

– I have 4 kids
– Work has been crazy
– I’m tired
– Too many donuts (not really possible)
– My toes hurt

In the end, those are all really excuses. Okay, my toes do hurt like someone dropped a brick on them, but run on I say.

Lately when I run, my youngest daughter’s voice ends up in my head. The way she thinks and talks is very similar to the thoughts that distract me on long runs. Most days, my mentality is about that of a 4 year old. Over the years I have been fairly good at hiding that side of me, but those observant enough tend to catch on. Those that catch on are generally the ones I like to be around. They get it. Life shouldn’t always be serious. Live life through the eyes of a 4 year old.

About the only time I wear a hat is when I’m going running. If I put on a hat, the conversation with her starts:
L: Daddy are you going running?
A: No just feel like wearing a hat.
L: I want to go running in the mountains with you.
A: That could be fun. I could put you in a backpack and run up the mountain.
L: Yes that would be fun! Except if we meet a bear and if he’s hungry then he might eat but we can run really fast but it could be scary so we’ll tell the bear to leave us alone because we’re running in the mountains and that’s not nice for the bear to eat us.
A: Exactly.

She motivates me because what I’m doing impacts her view. As parents, our actions are much louder than words. I choose to not ignore my kids, just sit around at home in front of tv/computer, or think lazy. Choices aren’t always easy, but being a human comes with responsibility. What we do impacts other humans. If we can get more people to understand that, then just maybe we can change the world for the better.