Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Why Therapists (and politicians) Are Lousy Race Directors

My running buddy and I lead a group run up Lookout Mountain Road every Thanksgiving Morning.

It's 4.75 miles of calf-crushing, lung-burning joy to the top.....with 1600 feet of elevation gain to boot.

Nothing like stimulating the gag-reflex to usher in Thanksgiving!

We've been hosting this come all, come early, choke-and-puke event for six years.

The requirements to attend are pretty simple.......get laced up at Beverly Heights Park at 6am.

..........and then run......walk......or crawl until you hit Buffalo Bill's Grave at the top.

Oh yeah....no leaving anybody behind.

Ever.

Egos and PR ambitions are to be left at home today.

Because this morning, we're all in this together.

The group is pretty simple......friends.....friends of friends.......current and past co-workers...... and anybody invited by anybody with the guts, grits and cajones to participate. 

The group gets bigger each year.

It also gets better.

Because great running partners do something that therapists and politicians are unable to do:

Bring people together.

Even people with nothing in common.

Except when running.

Then they have EVERYTHING in common.

I marvel at how many runners I have learned from......and shared the trails with.......whom I know have completely different world views than my own.

But on the trails.......in those early hours before the meetings and emails .....it just doesn't matter to any of us who voted for Mitt.......or bought the million dollar home............ or who missed church last week. 

Indeed, running is the great class equalizer.

Whether you are the CFO or the 19-year old single mom.......

The trails are an "equal opportunity employer!"

Running partners are like families.......

.....but without the dysfunction.

Perhaps it's because religion and politics are seldom discussed.......

.....and personal discussions never leave the trails.

For most running relationships, the runners get together.........set big goals........ hold each other accountable........ and support and encourage one another when the weather gets rough.

Because the weather always get rough. 

This is what families do.

Perhaps the next Secretary of State should not be a diplomat...... 

.......but a race director.

She could organize a MARATHON for regions of the world where diplomacy has failed.

Just think of the race tees........"I survived the Axis of Evil" Marathon!"

It looks like the weather is going to cooperate for our Thanksgiving run tomorrow.

Cold temps but sunny skies.

Another record turnout I suspect.

Perhaps Bob and I will make it an official race event next year.........

It would be a lot of fun.

And bring people together.

Better get working on those tees.

AMJ 




Sunday, November 9, 2014

Running THROUGH It

"The best way out is always through."
                  ---Robert Frost

Road up Mt. Evans
This past Friday, on a complete whim, I played hooky from grading and squeezed in a 10-mile run up Mt. Evans Road.

I had the entire road to myself.

It's been closed for months as it's typically covered with 10 feet of snow by now.

Some say it's a great place to train for ultras and get away from it all.

I disagree.

I say it's a great place to train for ultras to get through it all.

In my experience, distance training, and LIFE,  has not been about running AWAY.

But running THROUGH.

By running through the miles in the cold.

The dark.

And the wind,...

One acquires the strength to endure the trials OFF the trails.

The job loss.

The business failure.

The divorce.

Or finishing that degree at age 40 with two kids and a mortgage.

I think distance training also makes us rethink the notion of speed.

Or coming in first place.

The guy who finished the Leadville 100 dead last this year gets the same size buckle as all of the other 25+ hour finishers.

Can anyone honestly say this guy is any less of an athlete or overall badass because he came in last after running 100 miles at 10,000 feet?

I don't either.

Because some races are not about finishing first.

They are simply about finishing.

I have some students this semester that are going to school while managing lives that read like stories from the 10 o'clock news.

Neurologist appointments from the motorcycle wreck, the sibling killed  by the drunk, and the voice message from the student at the ER requesting an extension on her writing assignment until she is released from the hospital from the head injuries she and her son sustained from the hand of an angry spouse.

These are not races about first place.

These are races about getting through.

And about finishing.

Many people are proud of the things they have accomplished.

I find I'm more impressed with the people who are proud of the things they have overcome.

I recently saw a quote on someone's whiteboard on LinkedIn that read:

 "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.  Be kind.  Always."

Wise words indeed.

Must be a distance runner.

AMJ