Running Voices

The NYT is doing a wonderful job profiling runners from a wide spectrum of age, purpose, goals and backgrounds. I find them inspiring in a doesn't-make-me-feel-bad-for-skipping-my-run-this-morning kind of way. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/05/27/health/MARATHON_VOICES.html?ref=nutrition


I especially love the video of Sab, the 85 year old. I've got such respect for the older runners. That's what I want to be when I'm 85. And it's not just because of what that must mean for how they feel physically in their everyday lives and what activities they can still do, which would be motivation enough. I look at someone twenty years into senior citizenhood who is regularly running and I see someone who has figured out how to have balance in his life. He is and has been prioritizing health and activity and his person beyond investing in career and general functioning as a person in the world activities. There isn't a sense of his time having passed. Running presents new, if arbitrary, goals, and a time for self-reflection and memories to mix with fresh brainstorming for new projects.


Preparing for a marathon has given me that arbitrary goal to get me out there prioritizing wellness and balance. As I've hit a snag these last two weeks and been walking and pilatesing more than running, I remind myself that there will be time to train for the marathon, but my main goal is and my focus should be on the training itself.


For me, that has meant just weathering this patch of appointments, high stress and a high workload, trying to get as much sleep as possible while moving my body somehow everyday. Tomorrow morning is pilates, which I'm already looking forward to, and then, after another good night of sleep, runs this weekend.