It's Not So Much I Run, But That I Continue

Day 43, Sept. 20, 2012

Today, I am 188.8 pounds of rolling thunder.

But that doesn't really seem to matter so much today. So what?

It's funny how life can change in an instant.

One minute you're a working person defined by the things you do every day at the office or computer terminal. The next day, you're a job seeker grasping onto whatever lifeline the new normal sends you.

And then, there are the days when you get tragic emails. Yesterday was one of those days when one tiny two-sentence message changed everything by jarring you back to the reality of what really matters in life.

This message came from a friend telling us that a young man who we had seen grow from crazy preteen into a quality young man was extremely sick. And while the prognosis is unknown at this point, the reality of how unsettling it is to the teen's life and the lives of those around him stands imminently and abundantly clear.

The note also served to remind me not only how fragile life is but how genuinely nice people can be as they rally around the family. Messages of support and well-wishes have flooded in, and countless people have pledged their support.

It all kind of puts my feeble attempts at being a better runner into the category of so-what.

So what that I struggle to make it over the hills? So what if I'm not as fast as a woman running with her dog? So what if my shoes are old and my shorts aren't from a designer label?

So what?

Today's Runner's World kick in the butt quote comes from runner/writer Hal Higdon who says: "It's not so much that I began to run, but that I continued."

So that's the what? That we continue to embrace each day. That we embrace each mile. That we embrace our friends and families even more so now that we see how quickly things can change in our lives.

Now when you see the world's slowest human out on the street today, just give me a wave and say, so what.