Runner Insight

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2008 brought some pretty amazing changes. We had been attending a series of weekly meetings that revolved around the concept of the Law of Attraction and manifesting the best for your life.  One of the main themes that kept popping up throughout the meetings was “What is your passion in life?”  And people would talk about this or that, and be so enthusiastic about their passions: there were a handful of real estate investors, and there were people in the community social working type professions. And beauticians and nail techs, and people involved with multi-level marketing and direct sales and various other things. And everyone was full of inspiration and ideas.  

I however would sit in silence, not knowing how to participate. I was 44 years old, soon to be 45 and while I had a wonderful, comfortable life, I couldn’t really verbalize what my passion was.

Well okay, I did know what my passion was; it was running, but how in the world could I serve others while monetizing my passion for running? Eventually the drip effect did its work on me during all those meetings along with the CD’s I had been listening to. 

 After many months and some unexpected spiritual growth, I had an epiphany of sorts.  I’m legally blind, and even though it’s much harder for me to run, I still manage to do it routinely, because it is my passion.  One evening a truly inspired thought came to me: VisionRunner.com – I could start a blog about being a blind runner.  It would be about my life as a blind runner, and about overcoming obstacles and how it’s not so much what happens to you as what you do with it that defines your success in the world. Hopefully it would be an inspiration to others overcoming difficulties in their lives since we all have them in one way, shape or form.

Eventually it turned into this blog: www.RunnerInsight.com, and I went with Vision Runner as my tag name.  I am now using my unique set of circumstances and my passion for running to inspire others.  I started my blog in September of 2008, and this spring I have embarked on a new mission in conjunction with my blog. It’s called Run Over to Ellen’s and it’s a 1,222 mile virtual run to the Ellen TV Show in Burbank, CA to raise $30,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind.  (www.RunOverToEllens.com)

I guess it’s true that as we grow and mature, we become more about “What can I do to serve others?” rather than “How can I help myself?”  Using my passion for running to help others is the most rewarding gift the Universe has given me.  By going deep within myself, I was able to find my passion, make it uniquely mine and change my reality.

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner

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I have been running since 1992.  I love running.  You could say it’s my passion. There are few things that get me as excited and motivated as the thought of a good, long run.  Now I’m not talking about those “Ultra-Ultra-Marathons” “Run-all-day-and-all-night, keep-running-till-you-puke-and-then-keep-going-till-you’re-a-bag-of-hallucinating-slobbering-loosely-mashed-meat-in-running-shorts-and-then-keep-going-some-more” kind of long runs. Good for Dean Karnazes and Pam Reed and Scott Jurek and all those other “beyond hardy” folks, but that’s not what appeals to me, at all. I’m guessing that the enjoyment probably fades somewhere past the 30 or 40 or 50 mile mark or so, and then at that point, one is just doing it because their brain cells have relented, no longer trying to convince them to stop, and are leaving it up to the rest of the body to do or die….I don’t really know where that stems from. Good for them, and I respect their dedication, but not really my bag of chips.

So when I say “long run”, let me define it for you. The furthest I had run, before I started contemplating the marathon in 2007, was 16 miles.  I did this on a whim, one summer day back in 1998. I had it in my head that if I could run 16 miles, I could certainly run 26.

Mind you, when I did those 16 miles, it took me 4 hours. That’s not moving too fast. The first 3 were up a very steep road in a beautiful canyon. The next 5 or so were downhill on a gravel road.  After that it was along an overgrown trail for a few miles to a nice path that had once been an old railroad route. Then the 3 miles home which was on top of a very long steep hill.  Well you probably get the picture. It was beautiful, definitely one of the benefits of living in Montana. But obviously, the up and down like a yo-yo thing, really not the most well-thought out plan, or the ideal route to run that many miles for the first time when my average long run was normally about 5 miles. 

Oh, did I forget to mention that it was also very hot that day?  It was, and it certainly was a challenge to bring enough water.  I wore a CamelBak Hydration Pack.  Once that was empty, I had to drink from a creek and small waterfall along the route.  I ate a very chewy protein bar to supplement on the run. Again, not the best choice for sustenance on the trail, but I survived. Not the end of the world.

Obviously I had no idea what I was doing, and I laugh now at my lack of preparation and knowledge. Spontaneity, pure determination, and the love of running propelled me to do it in the first place. When I had finished that run though, I felt that if I wanted to, I could do a marathon.  

At the time, though, I didn’t want to do a marathon. It really didn’t appeal to me. Probably I discounted the thought because my hometown did not offer a marathon, and I didn’t want to have to travel to run in one. The logistics of it were intimidating. That, coupled with the fact that at the time, I did not have a good support team. It wasn’t so much the running of it that was in question. I could still see well enough to run it. It was the thought of going by myself that was unmanageable, as, due to my gradual vision loss, I was at the point where I had stopped driving.

It wasn’t until years later that I even considered running a marathon again. I had a good support team now, family and friends that were totally supportive of my endeavors, but the thought of running in a city I was not familiar with seemed too daunting a task: my eyesight had deteriorated even further, and running in a town that I didn’t know well didn’t seem practical.

As it happened, one day in December of 2006, T was reading the paper, and mentioned that our town was going to have their first marathon.  Well I was excited and animated over this bit of news. She was surprised, as I had never, in the 2 ½ years I’d known her, mentioned my desire to run a marathon. But she quickly got on board, and supported my decision.

Looking back, I’d say my desire to run a marathon was based on 3 things: the mystique of it, the challenge, and the ensuing sense of accomplishment.

The mystique of a marathon is very alluring.  It is, indeed, a very select few who will run a marathon in their lifetime.  Another runner once told me that he only ran half marathons, because when you tell the average person that you ran a half marathon, they only hear the word “marathon” anyway. They never hear “half”, and are consequently duly impressed with the accomplishment.  But I knew this would never suffice for me, because I would know, and it was me I was running for, for my own enjoyment, not to impress any one else. So my big goal was the actual 26.2 mile marathon.

Throughout my running career, I have continually been challenging myself to run further.  Not necessarily faster, but certainly further. Obviously, for a person with vision issues, faster is not always better. But endurance, stamina, and longer distances, those are challenges I can work with without endangering life, limb and miscellaneous pedestrians and puppies.

And that brings me to my last reason for wanting to run a marathon: a sense of accomplishment.   To me, nothing else compared to a marathon.  It was the ultimate goal to strive for, and achieve in my running career. I really only needed to do it once, to be able to know that I had done it – but if I enjoyed it, not just the race itself, but the entire process, there’s no telling where it could take me.

How ’bout it?

Vision Runner

Please leave your comments and any insights you have below… We look forward to hearing from you!  Thanks!

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