Carry on

"Buried deep within each of us is a spark of greatness, a spark than can be fanned into flames of passion and achievement. That spark is not outside of you it is born deep within you."
-- James A. Ray

A front moves in, not quite arrived, as the winds pick up, and gray scuttling clouds crowd out what would otherwise be a warm sun. I decide to make my way west, originally hoping to cruise the back road from the Seminoles and revisit training loops from pre-marathon days. The stiffness and ache in my legs, however, said otherwise, and even after 2-3 miles I could see this was going to be a difficult run.

So I rounded it out at 64th, came up and over the turnpike and straight on Stirling until Park. In the last mile before turning, I found a curious gait that was slow and steady into the wind, as if I was balancing off my back thighs and hitting the footfalls from my seat. Slow going, but another one good for endurance, and for probably about 9ish miles all put together.

I finished out a grueling week at work. When I run I laugh to myself sometimes about the need to train, not just to be physically strong, but most importantly, mentally unrelenting. If there is one thing running has given me its deep heart. I find I can tolerate what used to be the toughest stuff that would have taken me down and out. I watch my colleagues struggle with pain, workloads, stress, and I know it was me my first years there. Deep down I carry my own internal boiler room, but its more a cauldron of transformation these days, where the material of my life falls into so that the alchemy of wisdom, strength and insight can turn my vision into practical use and compassion. It's working, that's all I know. I pick myself up from the challenges of the week, the day, and I carry on.