Inspiration

Today I commented on a thread on the web about inspiration and what it is that inspires me. I didn't go into great detail (there's only so much waffle people want to hear from my keyboard), however I really wanted to say what I felt. I figure if my opinion means nothing and I'm boring or a silly cow... then those people with that opinion won't be reading this.

Does it inspire me to read how people knock out a 5 miler then a 10 miler and maybe another 4 miler just because they had the time (and I must point out here, I am not singling any one person out although it may look like I am to those who know me and my opinions). Does it inspire me when somebody says, "Ran along the beach today.. it was windy", or, "Went for a run across a hilly town... felt good". No, I'm sorry, I am not inspired to get my trainers out at this sort of thing. Of course we all have really good runs occasionally and it's always good to share those times, but for me I want to hear of the difficulty people get during a run. This sounds pretty macabre of me, but I really don't mean to sound so!

If I'm doing a 20 mile run and I get to 14 and feel that I just can't go on... I don't want to recall your great run where you felt like your lungs were the size of hot air balloons and your legs felt like coiled springs. That makes me feel even more tired. I want to recall your difficult 20 miler... the one that you felt like you had lungs the size of a dying gnat and your legs were on the verge of dropping off.... and why? Well, when you pull through that and have a brilliant mile come the 18 mile point and feel you are running faster than the wind, I can think about that situation and hope that maybe I'll be that lucky and will soon be feeling like that too. That is what will keep me running instead of dropping out of the run altogether.

There are some very inspirational people in this world, and you all change me as a runner every time I am lucky enough to put my trainers and Garmin on and go to the great outdoors. Thank you to all of you who inspire me to keep going when I feel like I am going to die, and finishing a run or race seems the greatest impossibility!