💬 Friday Thread: What have you learned?
About yourself as an athlete, as a person
I know this newsletter is a bit of an odd bird. It’s about running, yes, but it’s also about the people we become as we run, as we train and push ourselves, even when we’re in fallow periods when we aren’t training so hard, or pushing ourselves so much.
(I’ve been writing to you for just over ten years now — ten years! — and there are days when I still feel like I haven’t quite figured out what this newsletter is supposed to be… 🤔 )
But one thing that I do feel on solid ground about is that we’re all learning as we go, and doing it together.
So I thought I’d throw this question out to you today: what have you learned about yourself from all the time you’ve spent on the run? Whether that’s as an athlete and what you can accomplish, or as a human being?
What have you learned from all this putting one foot in front of the other? — Terrell
I keep my marathon medal hanging in my classroom to remind myself that I can do hard things with practice and hard work.
If any students ever inquire about it, I feel proud to tell them that, and I think it has a positive effect on them, too.
Great question! What first popped into my head as a reply was this: When I am running I feel most like myself and part of nature.
I love the rhythmic flow of my feet hitting the ground, my arms swinging, and breath moving in and out of my body. I feel the sensations of being in the moment, within and around me. The heavy heat and humidity of summer; the brisk chill of fall mingled with the scent of crushed, decaying leaves; the delight of snowflakes hitting and then melting on my face; the earthy smell of warming ground and lilac scented air in spring. Running is my way of dancing with life in each of its seasons.