Couch to Kenyan: Moments that matter

Day 33 of 130
Ks covered: 188
Ks to go: 914
General mood: Questioning
Running highlight: Fast 10K
Equipment status: Good
Body status: Can’t complain
Weight: 147.5 lbs

You’ve heard the expression; ‘life is a marathon, not a sprint’? Well, now I think about it, life is way more like a steeplechase than a marathon – so full of obstacles, pitfalls and barriers to where we think we want to go, and so often, it seems to go in circles. This week, for the third week in a row, I’ve been questioning my resolve.

But this weekend, I think I confronted an answer to that question when a young trainer at my gym was paralyzed waist-down in a horrific snow-boarding accident. Friday, he was shredding the slopes, Saturday he was in intensive care. He had a stroke last night. He’s on a respirator. Who knows what the future holds?

If it’s possible to be eloquent about this, I’m not the person for the job. Here am I, feeling whiny about the 28K I’ve run since my last entry, when this gorgeous, very fit, 30-year-old guy is fighting for the ability to walk. How can I worry about things like my long run speed when an entire life just changed forever in a second?

There has to be a point to it all, but since life refuses to be wrangled into our plans, I guess our approach to it has to be about the point in time we’re in at the moment. Maybe the Buddhists have it right, (albeit it’s hard to run in a saffron robe), life is about focusing on the now, just in case later arrives without us.

But I’m not sitting on a hill meditating. Like so many of you, I’m out running, trying to get faster, to do more and to do it better. It’s paradoxical, but on days when I get more done, I feel more energetic. As I get fitter, I find I have more time to notice where I’m running, to see the changes in the seasons, the kids playing street hockey, the houses sold, new cars in driveways. I realize running is part of how I make the most of my moments – another way of trying to carpe my diem… to seize the day, before I seize up.

That said, while I run for me today, I also run in honour of Simon – and the oh so many people out there who have bigger hurdles than me in their steeplechase.

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