A Passion for Running

It was then that Tristan came into the quiet heart of his life. The bear inside him was sleeping.

Lines from Legends of the Fall – a movie I’m quite fond of. The scene involves main character Tristan (Brad Pitt) moving away from a reckless, turbulent time in his life, toward a time of peace, family and tranquility.

I’m not racing right now. The bear inside me is sleeping.

Among us runners I think there is a typical progression that goes something like this:

1-You are new to running. You started out of a desire to get in shape – maybe lose some weight. You can’t imagine running x-distance or x-pace. You are wide-eyed and in awe of pretty much everyone around you.
2-You’ve built yourself up to a 5k and are full of joy and glee…with not a care in the world.
3-You’ve lost some weight and start noticing others doing super cool stuff. 5 milers, 10k races, triathlons, 1/2 marathons, marathons and…beyond. You starting thinking, “I wonder…”.
4-You’re getting serious now. The “what ifs” are beginning to turn into “I think I cans”. Goal setting is now part of your running experience. You are like a sponge and will read everything and anything you can find on the subject of running.
5-You’ve knocked down a couple of races, and your confidence is growing. Now there’s a nagging thought bouncing around in your brain of one day trying a marathon. You are confident but sometimes still live in the land of “I think I can”.
6-With encouragement and inspiration from others, you take a leap of faith, proclaim, “I’m gonna do it!” and set out to train for your first marathon. That’s right, you don’t just run now – you train.
7-The marathon comes. You finish. And finishing is a life changing moment that makes “I think I can” a thought of the past.
8-But there is more to prove. Finishing is no longer enough. You are full of “I know I can. I know I can do it faster. I know can I do it longer”. You are one buff bear.
9-Time passes. You seek challenges and are rewarded with victories, life lessons, setbacks and maybe even a few injuries. You realize these have all been placed in front of you as a test – to see if you can continue – to challenge you to keep on running through good times and…not so good times. So you keep running and are forever changed. You now have the confidence to try and do anything – in or out of your shoes. Roar!
10-You step back and smell the roses. There is calm. There is peace. Racing has a place but it’s not everything. You find new joy in reaching out to help new runners. Running to run is the thing. The bear in you is asleep.

But don’t worry, he (or she) will soon wake up wide-eyed and in awe of everyone around him (or her!).