Day 76: 1 mile.
Day 77: 3.5 miles.
Getting out the front door and heading out for a run without regard to time or distance was amazing. I loved training for a half marathon but I missed the freedom of running for its own sake. Yesterday was a return to that freedom and it felt good.
I wish I'd had a camera during the half marathon last weekend. The sights around downtown Raleigh were great but the people around me were even more interesting. A collection of 3,200 people will inevitably include some crazies and the City of Oaks was no exception. What struck me most in the first two miles was the diversity of the collected crowd. Senior citizens and high school students. Men and women. Every ethnicity and race. All levels of physical fitness. I'd always considered the marathon crowd to be incredibly fit and zealously serious. Instead I encountered a group more akin to one I'd see at the mall or at the movies.
The mass of humanity at the start of the race made me take another look at this sport I've jumped into. I grew up playing tee-ball and soccer and I never excelled in either. Tee-ball exists because of kids like me: slow, uncoordinated, severely lacking in motivation. Despite the tailored fit of the sport I still managed to whiff the stationary ball. Though I grew up and gained some coordination and competitive spirit, I struggled to find the drive to practice and improve my skills outside of practice. Soccer was fun but it didn't make me want to change my habits. Running held a different appeal. No fancy equipment needed other than a pair of shoes. Roads, sidewalks and trails weave through the landscape to the point where we no longer see them. No balls, bats or goals to worry about. No one yelling "USE YOUR CHEST!" during a run.
I'm hard pressed to think of a more egalitarian sport. Anyone can play, all you have to do is start. Hell people aren't even using shoes anymore. You can wear what you want, sing to yourself along the way, swing your feet out at odd angles, huff and puff yourself up a hill and all that matters is that you're moving forward. There can and will be pain and even some disappointment along the way but that happens even when you're standing still.
As I'm writing this I'm hearing a part of me--the cynical, grumpy-old-man part--screaming "This is so cliche! So cloying! Can't you think of anything original to say? This is drivel." I have to admit he's right. I could poke fun at the ridiculous outfits and insane rituals people go through for the sport. I could lament the watering down of competition and rail against the "everyone gets a medal" mentality.
There are, however, thousands of others doing just that. I'd rather lift up the hopeful aspects of something I've come to enjoy and love rather than break it down with the feeble hope that someone cares about my thoughts. So I'll keep running and I look forward to seeing every aspect of humanity on display in the miles to come.
Ryan
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