in it for the long run

this is hector the track and field skeleton

It doesn’t matter if I can physically run or not. It shows up immediately, and subconsciously, like an itch, nerve endings standing at attention awaiting the command. It’s only in the moments that follow when I realize I’m too tired, or have an injury, or have an obligation to attend to first. But the best of all the days is when I can simply say yes. 

Beautiful days, those are. A blizzard is but a fly to swat. Excuses are for other people. Perhaps it’s because you’re ticking the boxes day after day on your training program, your body is absorbing it like water in the desert, and nothing will stop you from drinking. Perhaps it’s a subconscious swift kick in the butt after too many days of treating your body like crap. Sometimes, it just happens. Whatever the trigger, suddenly you are awake, and you must. 

And you must, you really must. Because there will be days, weeks, months, maybe years when you can’t. And every day that you say yes is the making of a ritual that builds force like the tide, pushing further up the sand to smooth its wispy chaos into something solid you can build a castle on.”

this is hector the track and field skeleton