Running is a great way for former athletes to remain competitive as an adult. Coaching used to help curb that competitive nature by making the athletes I taught more competitive each year and I guess I kind of felt like I was putting my competitve stamp on the teams I formed. Heck I am so competitive and OCD, I took a defunct wrestling program and built it into a league champ in 5 years. Of course it was the competitive nature and hard work those young men showed that made it possible and when I started running, I believe that helped me realize I had been missing an aspect of what I needed to show them, a good example of being fit. Running has been a great replacement for coaching because it has re-invigorated my competitive desires and improved myself like I tried to do for others as a coach. But, I have realized through this blog and through what the few who have read it and responded to it that like the material I have read, watched and gathered information on, it also impacts some of them to make a change in their lives. When I hear that, it makes me think of why I loved coaching, helping use my knowledge and my positive attitude towards something to make someone better through that passion. I have re-read my blog about Running Has Changed My Life and realized it is some of the same ramblings I did as a coach. It's not always about being the most technically sound athlete, but being passionate about something that yields the greatest results. Too often the most talented and skilled athletes don't reach the top of the mountain because they lack that passion and drive. The wrestlers I coached weren't the most talented or skillled but had the passion and drive I had to be successful and get better and they will all be great men because of it. That's how this LIFE change and my running feels like now, it is a motivator to get better and keep improving and if anyone else reads my blog and feels inspiration like I have in some of the words I've read from everyday normal people then GREAT.
To me running is the best transition as well because if you are not the fastest, you still seek to become faster and/or accomplish something you hadn't previously done. You learn from your failures and try things to improve and not see those failures again. That is LIFE. You do something wrong or not as good as it can be, you get better and succeed the next time. My Uncle likes to gauge how he did by the 2nd half of his marathon by seeing how many people he passes compared to how many pass him. That is competition in running. If you are like I was, the competition is more within to just finish when you realize you can't even stay up straight because you are going to cramp again. But that's the race, the time in between is training for that race but also training to get faster, to not have as many aches the next day, to be fit, to live smarter, to change your LIFE. Running is an amazing thing.
Running = Happiness. I have felt this so much the last year and reading Born to Run shows me it even more. The author mentions running as a euphoria equaling sex. I could expound upon that but I will leave it at that. I know most of my family were expecting me to go into my jokes and one liners but I will abstain. I have got halfway through Born to Run and it's tough to put the book down. I have gone to bed late the last few nights because of it. It is amazing to read about the Tarahumara people and the sport of running and how many people have devoted their lives to understanding it better and becoming better at it. Or people that use it to warp into these mythical figures that can run over anything and through anything for a hundred miles. Most people can't even drive that far without wanting to go nuts.
Running makes you feel better. I believe this is for many reasons. First, you are making yourself better physically by burning calories your body needs ro release. Second, you can think out your problems and figure out ways to get through them. Third, you feel closer to your surroundings, you see more, you hear more, you become closer to nature (even if you are running in a concrete jungle) and closer to a higher power wheter that be Jesus, Allah or whatever you believe in or don't believe in you feel a high that is natural that your body and mind become one and last, you feel happiness because of these things all coming together. These are the MEPS I have talked about before. Running-Mentally, Emotionally, Physically and Spiritually improves you. It is amazing that I used to drive by runners and think no thanks and instead drive by and wish I could be doing the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment