Life as a runner
The views at the top of the mountains are mesmerizing, words don't put it in perspective, photos don't capture it, only the human soul does if only for a few fleeting moments. Run through the wind, the storms, across the open fields, under the bright sun, below the glowing moon, in the dark with only a headlamp lighting the next 10 yards (if lucky) out in front.
Unseen obstacles, watch your foot steps, keep your pace, stand up straight, look ahead of you, not down at your feet. Run through the pain, but rest if it's that bad. Put in those miles, put in those hours. Grow stronger, always looking forward towards your goal. Or take another approach, wander off the beaten path, go left instead of right. Take a break to tie your shoe.
Walk a minute, slow your pace to make it the top of that hill. Stop to take a breath. Breath in the thin fleeting mountain air. Listen to the birds, the bugling elk, the whistling wind. Watch for signs of changing weather. Go run anyway. Run by yourself, or run with a friend. Run barefoot to improve technique, keep it up, keep it up. If you fall, get up again and finish that race. Or walk with dignity to the end.
Look up and feel the rain on your face, or the cold on your cheeks, or the snow in your hair. Drink in life as it passes by (and yes do also drink some water). Let it flow like the breeze through the trees, or water in the streams. Over the obstacles as if they weren't even there... It's a game of the mind. What deserves your attention at any moment? How can you get the most out of every breath of life?
Change it up, run on the smooth pavement or through the unpredictable fields of grass. Run through snow, on ice, through streams, in the mud. Get it all. Experience a little of everything. That's right, that what it is, that's what does it for me. And most importantly go through it all with a smile on your face, because it's good, oh so good. It's life as a runner.
Charles N. Whittemore
January the 20th, 2015
