Step-by-step

Step by step, I have been chasing a dream.  I have not been chasing another person.  I have been chasing one thing--a time.  For quite some time, I have chased the idea of proving that I am faster than I was before.  Obviously, at this point, I'm not faster than I was in high school.  I am faster than I have been any time since then.  I hope to stay this way for a while.  I hope to see just how fast I can run the half marathon and marathon and reach personal bests.  Perhaps the marathon time will qualify me for Boston.  Perhaps not.  I realize there will come a day when all my personal bests will be behind me.  Then, I imagine that as long as I run I will still chase times.  However, at that point, I will just be chasing the last time I ran, trying to get stay at a specific level for the future.

I said I have not been chasing another person.  However, in a strange way, I have been chasing a person--myself.  In a strange way, I have been chasing the person I think I can be.  I should be satisfied with who I am.  I should be satisfied with making the most of the gifts God has given me, as long as I am making the most of them and completing the tasks I have begun.

I also have been chasing another dream.  A dream to find a way to make my running mean something beyond just fitness.  A dream to bring my running to life in new ways.  A dream to make my running fit perfectly with the first line of the Serenity Prayer--my running should reflect my strength to change the things I can.  How do things change?  Giving time to others.  Giving advice to others.  Giving hope to others.  Giving encouragement to others.  Giving friendship to others.  And graciously taking whatever my fellow runners give in return.

The others include my son, my fellow non-resident runners in Back on My Feet, the resident runners in Back on My Feet, and the group from Charm City Run that has become a bit of a band of brothers (and sisters) with my being a part of a wonderful training group for eight months now, and even old friends I ran with years ago who still cheer me on and share stories from afar.