In 2001, I was the long distance coach for a local high school track team. One day during practice, I was having a conversation with a fellow coach about running. This coach use to be a pretty good runner in high school and in college, but he is now a retired teacher that coaches. I asked him about how much mileage he still runs and does he still race? What he said next shocked me and caused me to put up a mental post-it-note. He told me that he does not run anymore. Wait...hold the train...how can someone so passionate about running and racing not run anymore? He then told me that he does not run anymore, because he found that he cannot keep up with his personal records when racing, so what was the point of continuing to run. What is the point...what is the point...the point is running is not just about time and racing. From that day on, I looked at this coach with a different view. I feel sad for this coach/runner and how he lost the true connection of running somewhere along the way. On that day, I hoped that I would never lose my love of "running".
