I recently finished Haruki Murakami's memoir entitled What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which recounts his training for the New York City Marathon (you may be familiar with his fiction, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, among others). He is an incredible novelist and an insightful, reflective runner.
He writes: "Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you're going to while away the years, it's far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you do that." (p 82-83).
I can tell you that this past weekend I was hardly in a fog at 7am when the Detroit Half Marathon started under the dark of night and dim glow of streetlights. My friend Sharad called me a "proper nutter" for battling the cold air and early morning hours, and warned me to be on the lookout for Detroit's notorious potholes along Michigan Avenue. While the latter was not so much a problem (no falls to report, teeth still in tact), the former made me laugh out loud. He's right!
Who does this?!?! I reminded myself that I had wanted to run this race since before I called myself a runner, and by the time I reached the Ambassador Bridge to Canada two miles into the race I felt awake and alive. I snapped a few photos along the way, including this one of Detroit from Windsor (okay, so THAT'S a little "nutter" but whateves, I document, yo). Besides, I couldn't run full force with NYC looming right around the corner.Murakami's goals for the New York Marathon were to reach the finish line, never walk, and enjoy the race. Sounds pretty good to me. See you in NYC.
(thanks bart, mary, melissa and arvind. You're the BEST.)
