This week in my BURN class, one of my clients came in in a sad mood. (For those of you don't know what BURN is, it is my running interval class at the gym where I work). Anyway, she mentioned her brother in law Dennis, had just been diagnosed with severe thyroid cancer. As we continued to run, we decided to dedicate the run that night to Dennis, and in our own way pay tribute to his life and celebrate our health.
An old running coach of mine told me once that he used to dedicate each run to someone he loved, who had been through or was going through a hard time. That is why I am running Boston for Brad, and why we ran for Dennis on Monday.
I am reading a book now called Born to Run, and it's about the best runners in the world, the Tarahumara, a hidden tribe who can run hundreds of miles without stopping, without fatigue, with a smile on their faces. These runners don't run for time, or medals or money, they run for the pure love of it. They run out of love and kindess an compassion for others (Seriously, read the book). It may be the only way they can run for 100s of miles and not die. They are pretty inspiring to us as Americans, who mostly run to shed a few pounds in vain or to gain some sort of recognition or sponsorship.
We can certainly learn from my old running coach, and from the Tarahumara. Next time you go out on your run, dedicate it to someone special. Run for that person selflessly. It will absolutely make that run seem a lot easier and a heck of a lot more worthwhile.
Until tomorrow,
Nat
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