This past weekend my buddy Kyle and I decided to try and run the entire 60 mile North/South trail at Land Between the Lakes during an overnight run. The run was an absolute disaster with dehydration, armadillo kicking and hitch hiking to round out the evening that fell 18 miles short of the goal. After an all-night adventure we were starving and thank goodness one of our favorite restaurants near LBL, The Log Cabin in Dover, was open to feed our bummed out stomachs.
We sat down in a section away from other costumers because frankly we stunk, really bad. The sweat and mud made for a pungent combination that we thought best to keep away from other paying customers.
Our waitress was a very pleasant woman who inquired about what we were up to. Our running shorts and buff headwear teamed with the smell must have led her to believe that we did not just roll out of bed. We told her the basics of our epic running fail and she was quite impressed that the two stinky guys before here had just run 42 miles.
She shared a little bit of her story with us, saying she moved to the area with her husband from Washington State and she had just beaten cancer and decided to pick up running again to get back into shape. Then she said something that I hear more than I would like when I talk running with people. “I can only run seven miles,” she told us in a slightly embarrassed tone.
There is no “only” when it comes to running. Her seven miles are incredible considering most Americans run very little at all. We all have our own goals with running and no one person’s goals are greater than the other. What binds us together is our love for an exercise that most people hate, and even consider a form of torture.
If you are lacing up your shoes and putting in the miles, never be embarrassed with your pace, or your distance or anything that goes along with your running. We are all part of the same crazy family, and whether we run 100 miles or one mile, whether we run fast or slow, it doesn’t matter because we all run. Be proud of your running because you are pretty darn awesome.
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