I’m going to try my best to shy away from the clichéd, “YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO!” posts that we see all over the runner's portion of the blogosphere. While I do enjoy them and find them necessary in our times of weakness and doubt, I sometimes find them repetitive. I may fail, but I will make a valiant effort anyway.
Some days I hate running.
Saturday was one of those days.
Five miles was all I had to get through that day. Just an easy 33 minutes or so (that’s runner’s precision for you). The day before I ran 12 miles and the next day called for a 16-mile long run, so it was my short day for the week. Yet, those 5 miles saw proverbial cinderblocks tied to my back and calves; I couldn’t get into a rhythm. My breathing wasn’t even normal and I have never had a problem with my breathing. Sunshine and its usual summer accomplice, humidity, infiltrated my skin and left me shower-drenched. My right shin engendered just enough foreign feeling to it to leave me frightened it was the onset of shin splints. Or even worse, its merciless twin brother, the stress fracture. I even stopped, turned around to head back home and then turned around again to finish the run. To put it kindly, I was miserable. There were countless activities I would have much preferred that Saturday than running, and yes, getting my teeth cleaned were one of them.
Even mentally I was gassed from the five miles. It was totally unlike me. Even worse was the thought of running 16 miles the next day. I labored over skipping it, thinking I needed to rest my shin and my mind from the physically and mental demand of running 75 miles a week. I chalked it up as a bad day, as all runners have them reluctantly, and decided to see what Sunday brought to the table.
Sunday, well, was no Saturday.
Usually Saturdays are better than Sundays. You can sleep in on Sunday. It’s the official weekend day where you don’t have to work the next day. You can catch up on errands, sleep, your favorite TV shows, and just relax.
But this Sunday left me fresh and ready to go. The short day rested my legs big time. The shin felt fine. The weather was significantly cooler and there was cloud cover, which led to perfect summertime conditions for a 16-mile long run. And, to boot, I finished the meandering hilly 16 miles in 1:43, a respectable 6:27 pace per mile. Even better was that I preferred the run over the teeth cleaning this time.
So what happened?
Well, I have a theory.
This has been preached countless times, but runners are truly a unique breed of human being. Their dedication to their sport and overall health is unequivocal. When the loud majority roars about the banality of running, the damage it does to your knees and the waste of time such a hobby can be, the runner politely nods his head, and goes out for 8 more miles. They don’t typically miss days for 100-degree weather, or 10-degree weather, or pouring rain, or sleet. Hence, the origin of the title for this post.
The runner’s will is an intangible trait that I argue is only attained by runners themselves. It’s a screaming voice in their brain, stomach, soul or wherever inside of them that beckons an unrequited commitment to getting out on the trail, roads and track. Even at the lowest of points (in my case, Saturday) they do not falter. Instead, they come back stronger, ready to efface their doubts from the previous day. There’s no lack of fight in the runner’s will.
Runners will persevere, and they’ll have it no other way. Be it by accomplishing a lifetime goal, beating cancer, losing weight or rebounding from bad days, runners will not ever, EVER take no for an answer or give up. Even if they’re old and slow, they’ll still be out there, enjoying the time out for a jog.
I have that runner’s will. I started out from nothing as a runner. As a shy, unconfident, kid who always had to buy the husky jeans as a young child, then ballooning to a 5’5”, 170-pound freshman in high school, I transformed myself into a 5-time marathon runner and member of a venerable Division I cross-country program. Sure, I’m at the bottom of the depth chart and I’m a walk-on, but I still earned that spot on the team. I write it to accentuate how the runner’s will can captivate and transform and do wondrous things, even making miracles. If it can transform me, it can do the same to anyone.
Being that I am a runner, I will persevere. I’ve had plenty of bad days this summer. I’m not a heat guy. Heat is my Kryptonite when I run. I’ll take extreme cold over extreme heat for a run almost any day. Yet, even with all those bad days I’ve had this summer, and ones previous, I have bounced back and returned, usually stronger. Knowing the goals I’ve set out for myself this fall and spring, it’s not going to be easy. No, not easy at all. In fact, it’s going to require a full-time, 100% commitment to those goals if I even have a chance of achieve them. Running a 27:30 8K and 2:40 marathon? Without an unshakable work ethic and dedication, there’s no chance of me getting anywhere close.
Thankfully, I learned something about myself this Saturday that should help.
Runner’s Will, Runners Will.
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