Runs and Kisses

As I've said before, up until about 9 months ago, I really didn't enjoy running.  I mean, not in the smile on my face sense anyway.  I enjoyed the fact that I could eat a little more than necessary, and drink a few more beers, but I truly considered running a necessary evil of being in the Army.  I also have a little bit of mild reactive airway disease which gets exponentially worse when I don't keep my lungs in shape.  The confluence of all that kept me going even when I didn't want to and it wasn't until I started running "minimally" that my interest really took off.  


For those that know me, you've probably heard me describe my love of certain sports or hobbies in terms of how they reflect life.  It's odd, yes, but this is seriously the crap I think about.  Hockey for instance, is a great analogy for life as it's quick, often exhausting and you make the best decision you can and deal with the results.  You take a lot of hits but the more you share, the easier it gets and an assist is a point, just as good as a goal.  You can take the analogy from there I think.  


Poker is a great one too.  It's a game of incomplete information and making decisions based on that.  Sometimes you are wrong but you know what, you made the best decision you could based on the available information.  And sometimes you get unlucky (obviously the converse is also true).


Running though, running is different.  The more I sit and think about it the less I know why I have been smitten.  And then again maybe that's it.  Maybe it's a really good representation of what it's like to fall in love.  There are highs, there are lows but at the end of the day, a sense of accomplishment that's hard to replicate.  


It truly does remind me of meeting my wife.  Most people find it pretty funny that she was the first girl I ever dated longer than three weeks.  So I had no idea what love was really.  But what I did know, was that she got inside my head and heart and wasn't going anywhere.  From that point forward I stopped trying to explain it or quantify it, and just decided to experience it and do my best not to eff it up.  


So maybe that's the best description I can come up with.  And maybe it doesn't need much more refinement than that.  But I know one thing, I got to run today and like the kiss I got from my wife this morning, my day is a whole lot better because of it.

By Marcus with 4 comments