Born to Run

I am a runner.

And I don't care how boring you think it is.  Or if you think running is just a means of catching a ball, or frisbee, or escaping a dangerous woman.  I love it.  I love running.

And I'm good at it.

In 6 marathons I have never had an injury.  The only time I have ever experienced true foot pain is when I tried to see how far back I could flex my big toe and ended up spraining something.

Running is my anti-depressant, my therapy, my healing place.  When I run, any anxiety, desperation, or anger just gets pounded into the pavement. I always come home feeling a little like Rocky Balboa but without the drinking raw eggs part.  I need no  vehicle, no gear, or special training other than my feet, a pair of shoes, and a stretch of road (and with a good imagination you don't even need a good soundtrack).  It costs next to nothing. I am never lonely when I run.  When I run, I am the star of my own musical.  I have "the eye of the tiger," I "defy gravity," I become a "smooth criminal," I find "someone like you!"   I never appreciate my heart more than when I force it to work hard and it keeps beating and beating and beating. I love knowing that if I needed to, I could run almost any distance, anywhere.  I have often pumped myself by thinking that if Armageddon came, and the world was being taken over by giant lizards and the few remaining sane people left needed a runner to find the next community of sane people 20 miles away and there were no vehicles left-- I could do it!

I just recently read two books that make me feel very proud to be a part of a running community:

"Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek, which is a book that chronicles the life and eating habits of the world's best ultrarunner, including running tips and vegan recipes.

and

"Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, which is the story of an ancient tribe of runners deep in the canyons of Mexico and the race that pitted them against the worlds best professional runners (i.e. Scott Jurek, above).

This second book, especially, is a really fascinating read, for anyone-- runner or not.

But I guess you could say that I am falling in love with running all over again.  And its a perfect time too, because I just signed up for my 7th marathon-- Seattle Rock-n-Roll 2013.  And here is the best part: Richard signed up too!!!
And while I do believe in miracles, I would sooner have expected the sun to burst into black flames than for Richard to sign up for a marathon with me.  It would be the fulfillment of a decade long dream of crossing the finish line with my sweetheart.  When we ran a half marathon together two years ago, I decided at the last minute not to run alongside Richard in favor of chasing my own personal best time (which I did).
At the time, when he brought up the fact that I had always dreamed of us crossing the finish line together, I reminded him that my dream was crossing a marathon finish line together, not a half :)

So once we registered for the full marathon, Richard again asked me if I was going to run the race with him this time.  I told him,

"yes..."

"if you're fast enough!"