Motivation - Inspiration - Enduring

This afternoon I signed up for the Rock & Roll half marathon.  I didn't really want to do it but relented for three reasons: 1) the women I run with want to do it (my usual motivator), 2) it's the closest race before Ragnar, and 3) it has hills, and I really need to be okay running hills in order to do well during Ragnar since there are lots of hills during that race.

Currently I'm reading Scott Jurek's book "Eat & Run" and find it completely fascinating.  It's really very timely as it has motivated me to commit to this latest goal.  Reading about Scott's upbringing (very hard), how he constantly analyzes himself and other athletes around him, using that data to understand how he can ask more of his own body, and I really appreciate getting a glimpse of what drives him mentally to just keep going.  Understanding his internal dialog encourages me and acts as a influence within my own mind to keep moving, and maybe to even try a little harder, go a little faster, or to push along a bit farther (this sounds great now but in the middle of a run it's a whole other discussion in my brain).

I really enjoy running (but not by myself).  I really enjoy being bone weary tired after pushing my body beyond what I thought it was capable of (even it if means I fall asleep on the lawn that afternoon).  I am constantly amazed that I can, and do, keep running when my legs have sort of gone numb, or when I've hit the proverbial "wall" (it really feels like a wall) because I didn't eat the right foods or get enough rest before heading out on a long run.  I am constantly amazed that I can endure and that I like this sort of hard work.  It's peaceful and brings balance to my emotional and spiritual wellbeing and for that alone it is worth all the hard work and tradeoffs to make it happen each week.