My dear friend Cindy LaFerle, a local freelance writer and the current Writer In Residence at the Royal Oak Public Library, hosted a "Writer's Life" session last evening. Understandably, the participants were geared toward getting published. They believe that this credential will put them in an elite club of "real" writers -- those who are paid for their work.
A wise panelist encouraged the group to take it slow. If you are writing now, she said, even if the only person who reads your work is your mother, you are a writer. You are doing the same work a paid writer is doing, and if you want to be published, your time will come.
An inaudible "ah ha" moment for the crowd.
And so it's the same with running. Sue, my friend and fellow Detroit Marathon relay team member told me she believes the very act of telling others that she is a runner makes her a runner.
Even if others would say that she just jogs ...or walks a few minutes of each mile...or isn't really "serious" about running -- because after all, she doens't fit the mold.
Runners, the logic goes, are lean, hungry marathoners who run daily, year round, never succumbing to injury or apathy or a busy schedule. Runners can torch a mile in less time than it takes most of us to eat a bagel.
And that's so not true, says my friend Sue. And I agree.
If you lace up your shoes and hit the pavement -- once a week or once a day -- you are a runner. If you sweat on purpose while moving your body from point A to point B, you are a runner. If you stretch and limber your muscles with the wisdom that they will work for you the next time you run, you are a runner.
And for Sue, simply stating the truth makes it true.
Anyone who runs and tells others about the experience -- or is simply caught in the act of running -- often gets promoted to a supreme fitness pedestal by those who, with a longing look, say they wish they could run, but [insert excuse here].
But I believe running isn't out of the realm of possibility for any of us, barring those with true unresolved physical challenges.
In a world of people looking for the best health, the most rewarding experiences, the challenges which keep us sharp, there simply isn't room for the elitist "RUNNER" label society is so keen to slap on.
Because every one of us is a runner, just waiting to take that first step.
3 comments:
Wow -- The new blog looks great and reads well, and I am not surprised. So glad I can read you more often now, and I am honored to be included and linked in! Your running, like your writing, is looking good on you! And you inspire me to get out there and keep moving. As a hip replacement patient, I cannot run for medical reasons, but I can ride a bike and will do so more often. I will. Thank you, Claire!
LOVE this! I will live vicariously through your running - had to give it up 2 1/2 yrs. ago due to a herniated disk and miss it every day.
Plus, you're an awesome and inspiring writer.
I never call myself a runner. I don't think of myself that way. And yet, I've been running more than three miles a day, four to five days a week, since 1990. Go figure. I'm glad a lot of running myths were debunked recently... people have long told me I better stop or I'll ruin my knees.
Clearly, they are jealous.
Hmph.
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