As anyone knows who will listen, or can’t get away fast enough, I just ran another marathon (I think number 23) on Saturday.
But, why? From about mile 20 to the end, I am not really sure. But, in the quiet reflection of my office, the following reasons come to mind:
- Having an event on my calendar keeps me exercising consistently. I hate to pay money for something and then not get the “value” from it.
- I am now a member of the running “community,” where I have developed important relationships.
- Running gets me outside; sometimes in the dark, cold, early morning–but still outside.
- No matter how I do (didn’t do great on this one), I always have a real sense of accomplishment. Yes, that is code for it feeds my ego–which is why I like to talk about it.
- Running a marathon reminds me that I can do other hard things as well–including hard things in my profession.
Almost every deep analysis of human emotional and physical wellness eventually comes across three major building blocks:
1) We need physical movement;
2) We need social interaction, and;
3) We need contact with the outdoors.
This activity hits each of those needs, and others, for me. It seems it would help anyone’s wellness to find their own way to satisfy these needs.
#finelife