truth

I read this little gem of a quote this morning from one of my very favorite professional runners:  

"That's the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is." -- Kara Goucher

There is so much truth in these words!  If I measured my great runs by how well I do at races, I would surely have given up long, long ago.  But what keeps me going is knowing how incredibly blessed I am to be able to, simply, run.  To feel the sun on my face (or sometimes snow, rain, and sleet), to feel the wind at my back (or fiercely pushing me in the face), to effortlessly (or not so sometimes) tick off mile after mile after mile.

Just yesterday, during a particularly brutally hot 4mi race, I was thinking how amazing it is that there is shade, that there is breeze.  That there is cool, clean, crisp water to quench my thirst.  I am blessed!

I can run with friends who help push me, I can run alone with my thoughts and prayers.  I am blessed!

I run along busy roads, down empty trails, along shaded paths.  I am blessed!

Many times I get grumpy thinking how unfair this or that is.  Then I go for a run and things seem to fall back into perspective.  Running absolutely helps me see how wonderful my life is.  Don't take my word, or Kara's word, for it though.  Take a walk, or a run, or get outside and do something active and you just may see the truth in this quote that I see.