Running on Inspiration

I've been living inside my head for the last 33 years, so I sort of know what I'm thinking and what makes me tick and what gets me excited to start and finish a goal. Not all the time, but mostly. So, I knew to get into an "exercise mode" to get in better shape, I needed to get inspired.

My inspiration to start running and actually stick with it came from a book. Earlier in the year, I was in my local county library and happened to look at the right shelf at the right time. There in front of me was a book called Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. I checked it out and started reading it that night. It was tough to put down. Written by Dean "Karno" Karnazes and full of humor, excitement, and "I can't believe he actually did this stuff!" moments, the book really had an impact on my thinking. Whereas before, I had trouble even imagining running more than one mile at a time, here was a person running hundreds of miles per week and eating marathons for breakfast while working full-time.

My mindset changed from "I know I can't run more than a mile" to "I bet you can run more than a mile."

I ended up reading all three of Karno's books, and they inspired me to get off my butt, get outside, get moving, get running, get going. Karno is inspiration!

Now months later, as I'm running outside, and my mind is wandering from topics like video games, book ideas, and my family, I'll think about Karno's books every once in awhile and still smile at his accomplishments. They still inspire me and keep me running.

On some longer runs, I try to recall a quote from his books, and I'm paraphrasing here, but essentially, "The first half of a race is run with your legs. The second half is run with your heart."

I'm not an expert at running, but I find that to be pretty close to the absolute truth.