Have you lived?

Coach Patrick and I were on our 7th mile of a 16 mile long run last Sunday.  All of a sudden, this older gentleman named, Gasper introduces himself to us while matching us stride for stride.  He asked me what I had in my water bottle.  I told him I had water, fully aware that he was mocking me in a playful way.  He had no water and was treating his 14 mile run as an easy run.  It turns out Gasper was on his 12th mile of a 14 mile training run.  He was in his mid to late 60s and training for a 100 mile ultra-marathon.  I told him that he was an inspiration and that we weren't worthy to be in his company.  He was a really nice man.

Patrick asked Gasper what he thinks about when running for 24 hours straight.  He said that he asked the same question to veteran ultra-marathons during his first attempt.  He said that they suggested that for the first 12 hours he start recollecting his childhood and retrace the story of his life to the present day.  For the last 12 hours, they suggested that he think about his present life and retrace his life back to his childhood.  "And if you could not do this," he asked?  They answered, "then you probably haven't lived a meaningful life."

Running is an amazing spiritual exercise.  You never know who you will meet on the running trails at any given moment.  For the half mile that we ran with this stranger, Gasper was Yoda in shorts.  As we took our walk break, we wished him well and let him know that he was an inspiration.  He was our gift of inspiration for the day.

At the 15th mile of the run, my legs were fatigued.  I began to hit the running wall.  But Patrick reminded me of our encounter with Gasper two hours earlier and calculated that we had only been running 3 hours compared to the 24 hours he would run in an Ultra Marathon.  Patrick pushed the right button, and we finished the last half mile in strong fashion.  What would I think about if I ran for 24 hours?  The memories of the incredible people that I have run with and the lessons I have learned from them would be eat up a great deal of time and mileage.  These memories would be a reminder of how blessed I have been to run alongside such incredible folks every weekend.  Have I lived?  Probably.  Am I blessed.  Absolutely.

Peace be the journey.