1000 Miles

1000 miles

(Reflection following the summer of my senior year of high school)

1000 miles and 1000 cans.  I am defined by what others consider punishment and the removal from their comfort zone.  Through running 1000 miles in one summer and collecting 1000 cans for the homeless of our community I have become more developed in my character, leadership, and astuteness.  The miles of pounding the pavement has stretched my mind to realize what life is.  Life and running compete to be one of the best analogies ever presented.

Running is more than a sport, it’s an adventure.  Running is a way to express oneself, a chance to create a masterpiece.  Running is a way to be unique in a monotone world.  It’s stepping outside the box and doing something that 1200 other students would call crazy.  It’s living a different lifestyle.  Having respect for ones body by getting it in shape, keeping it in shape, and staying healthy.  Running creates disciplined bodies but in the same effect disciplined minds.  Minds that can think beyond what’s natural, beyond what some consider punishment.  Running shows the runner how capable their body really is and can take the body as far as the mind will let it.  Running improves one’s heart rate and teaches us to learn the appreciation of food and sleep.  Running has pushed me far beyond what I would have ever thought I could do or achieve and shown me that life and living is all about having fun.  It’s about using what God has given us and using it to it’s full potential.  There is no equipment involved, just pure heart and desire and guts.  Running is about spirit.  Knowing who one is and why they are.  Learning that the spirit is everywhere and is proved by everything created.  What other sport can you know the feeling of freshly laid pavement, the beauty of fresh fall leaves, and trails that never seem to have an end.  In what other sport can you smell ten different things in thirty minutes whether from the barn or fresh exhaust.  Running is about growing and learning, learning things you can’t learn anywhere else, and growing stronger in mind, body, and spirit every time you step on the line.  It’s about more than winning or losing, trophies or fame, but about becoming someone, someone who will know how to lead, know how to respect, and learn how to improve those around them.  It’s not about the individual, but about the team.  And through team experiences the individual improves.  It’s a process, a process that teaches us that the only day that matters is today.