Run Down

It was sometime late in the afternoon.

A group of friends had gathered, eager to celebrate the day. The 5K we all raced had been over for hours. There were beer and brats, burgers, babies and stories of running glories and failures being passed around the room. I sat on the couch. Tired and full, I dozed in and out of consciousness, too much banana pudding for my own good. Somewhere between inflated high school track records and a speaker phone call to a distant friend, some advice was being handed out. The group, many of whom were newly ordained into the running world that morning by an exhaustive and hilly race around the Ballpark in Arlington, seemed eager to take it all in.

I struggled to keep my eyes opened, yet yearned to close them. My mind was cloudy, but the words rang clear.

"If you keep training the same way over and over, don't expect to get different results," a voice said.

I reflected on my time, how I ran, how I've been running. All routine. My times haven't been changing. It hasn't really gotten all that much easier. Last week's relay marathon made me think I was getting somewhere. A week of poor training and a tough run today made me feel like I was back at square one.

You can run 5K's every weekend, Michael, and maybe you'll get really good at that. Nothing else will change. Focus on the goal, the ultimate goal. The goal is not to squeak out a medal because there was less than three people in your age group.

This isn't about times, really. This isn't even just about running anymore. It about making a change in your life. About finally following through on something. It's about dedication. Self discipline. Principals you've marginally committed to but have yet to fully embrace. Are you really in this for the long haul?