I've been thinking about running quite a bit lately. I ran the Ragnar relay last month, which was SO FUN! Our team did really well considering all the circumstances leading up to the race, and I know for sure that new friendships were forged, which is awesome. The summer thus far has been really excellent, and full of all kinds of emotions, good and bad. I've found what I've been searching for for years, but as with so many good things, its like trying to hold on to a fist full of sand. I suppose that is sufficiently vague, so I'll move on.
The more I run, the more I realize Pearl Izumi is on to something: running is predatory at its core. George Sheehan put it this way, "Victory is of the moment. It must be followed by another victory and then another. I have to run just to stay in place. Excellence is not something attained and put in a trophy case. It is not sought after, achieved and, thereafter, a steady state. It is a momentary phenomenon, a rare conjunction of body, mind, and spirit at one's peak. Should I come to that peak I cannot stay there. I must start each day at the bottom and climb to the top. And then beyond that peak to another and yet another." Running is predatory, and excellence--a conjunction of body, mind, and spirit--is its prey. And, odd though it may sound to some, I think running is a lot like love. Isn't love predatory? Isn't love a daily decision, a daily "exercise?" Are there not peaks and valleys in all human relationships? Isn't a pure conjunction of body, mind, and spirit what all "normal" beings seek in relationships? Look at the charity aspect of love. We seek charity to ultimately conquer our "natural man." We are in a life-long chase, hunting down that selfish alter-ego. Take another aspect of love, friendship. Would it be accurate to say that we are all "hunting" for the friends that will do us the most good? Or take eros. If that isn't predatory, I don't know what is. I guess the main, important thing to realize about predatory love versus other predators, is that it doesn't seek to destroy. Running doesn't seek destruction. It seeks conquest; taming the beast within one's soul so that beast can be a tool.
The more I run, the more I realize running has nothing to do with the waistline, nothing to do with weight control, nothing to do with distance or time or speed. It has everything to do with a journey of creation and discovery and meditation. It has everything to do with spiritual, mental, meta-physical health, if you will. It has everything to do with freedom. The majority of people in the world don't discover that because they can't get past the pain, and they focus on getting results. But pain is part of life, not just running. It's part of love. As soon as you learn to make friends with it, and digest it, it becomes part of you and makes you stronger. It's like spinach.
Speaking of getting results, I think its in Born to Run that Christopher McDougall says that you can't expect anything out of running. Give all you have to it, and expect nothing. There's a life lesson. That's what Jesus did. That's what must be done if we truly love a person, because "to love another person is to see the face of God." Give all you have, expect nothing, and you receive everything. That's when miracles happen. I guess its a different way of looking at faith.
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