WISDOM ON THE RUN
Running gives me many things, and one of the most important of these is the chance for deep thinking and an opportunity to find perspective. Sometimes, wisdom that seems to come equally from within and beyond appears to me and I have to run faster home to write it down (or even stop to mid-run!). Here I share some of these moments of wisdom on my run.
Adversity can lead to growth
Standing at the start line, facing off nature, who can sometimes be cruel, you can often struggle to imagine how you are going to even run the first km. But sometimes all it takes is to get to the end of the first km, which leads to the second and then the third, and before you know it, you look down at your watch and your are running faster than you could have imagined. In life, adversity can encourage growth, forcing you to dig deeper than you have ever dug before, reaching heights you could never have imagined.
Racing against yourself
In 2007 I ran the NYC marathon. In the lead up to the race, in the days when I was on twitter, I wished Paula Radcliffe good luck in the race, and she responded with the same to me. It may have been my greatest running (or maybe life?) achievement. The race was a great day for both of us. She won and I finished. I realized that day that few sports events are like running a marathon, where you can compete in the actual same event as the best in the world. But the thing is I wasn't racing Paula Radcliffe (who finished in 2:23:09). Whether in a marathon, or in life, you are really only racing yourself.
Look to the Hills
We moved from Jerusalem to the concrete jungle of Modi'in in 2005, just a few months after I became a "runner". We have never regretted the decision (great place for a young and growing family), but it is a bit suburban (for good and for bad). After a while my suburban runs felt uninspired. It took a few years until I actually looked up and noticed quite how much natural beauty there is in the surrounding hills and forests just on the edge of the city. Sometimes you just have to look up and see the beauty that was always there, all around us.
Have Faith in Yourself!
Sometimes, after a good run, that even felt easy (everything clicked), I will look at my watch at the end and think "maybe the GPS was off today". Sometimes you just have to accept the praise, have faith in yourself that you can and have achieved what they say you have, and move on to the next challenge.
