This running blog was inspired by Keith Richards. No, not
some guy named Keith Richards at some local running club or 5k race, like you
might expect. THE Keith Richards, guitar player for and founding member of the
Rolling Stones, who besides being one of the world's greatest guitarists and
songwriters, is also now an award winning author. I just read his memoir Life, which as you can probably guess
from the apt title, chronicles his life, as well as the life of the Stones.
What does that have to do with running you might wonder? Well, directly
nothing, but indirectly quite a bit actually.
As I made my way through the book, across the decades of
Richard's life and through the type of escapades you would expect from one of
the early "bad boys" of rock and roll, one thing was absolutely
stunningly clear: Richard's life is possessed by his love for and
obsession with music. At one point he says that no matter what he is doing, the
music is always there working away in the back of his mind, creating that next
riff or fussing over how to get a new sound. Where music is concerned, he exudes passion and intensity. Whatever
is happening around him passes through the music lens -- everything in his life
is part of his music, and music is part of everything in his life. It is not
just what he does; it is who he is.
Before I picked up the book I had always thought him to be a rather
interesting "character," but I could not imagine that there would be
a single thing in his life to which I
could personally relate. Although I know nothing about guitars and even less
about writing music, I understood and empathized with what he was saying about his
relationship to music perfectly because that is the relationship I have with
running.
Unfortunately I am not world-class or even lucky enough to
make my living with my obsession. I am just a slightly above average master's
runner. However that does not change even a little the way that the passion for
running invades my mind and my life.
For me, running is ever-present. Besides the obvious and physical daily
questions, ("When will I run today?" "How far will I go?"
"Is that a pain in my knee?" "Should I run trail or road?"),
there are also the races in the back of my head, those I've run and those I
hope to run. The training questions that need to be pondered. The gear that
needs to be perused. There are the times, the splits, the comparisons to other
performances that need to be analyzed. There are the runners, past and present,
whose stories need to be read and reflected on. There are my steadily growing
groups of running friends and my thoughts about how they are doing and what
they have done. There are questions about when to eat and what to eat and why. Running
has become my passion, and it is also a lens through which I process my world.
Many runners may not recognize (or desire) this level of
passion. I am sure many musicians do not share Keith Richard's level of
obsession either. Many non-runners, and probably some runners as well, may not
approve of being so "obsessed" (although I never really understood
why people need to pass judgment on that). That is as it should be.
People come to various activities with different levels of
interest and engagement. I do a lot of activities that I enjoy immensely but
which I am not passionate about. However, I think that every person should
search until they do find the activity that inspires a level of passion that
transcends mere enjoyment. I think that those are the things that help make
people thrive.
I did not find that running was my passion until I was in my
late 30s. I remember on a run one day
when I was 40 when I just was flooded with joy at the idea of having found
something so wonderful at a time in my life when I thought I pretty much knew
who I was and what I was about.
Have you found your passion yet? Maybe it will be running?
Maybe it will be raising orchids? It doesn't matter. What does matter is that
you find it and embrace it. It will give
a level of meaning and pleasure to your life that will enrich everything else
that you do.
So why start a blog? Well, because one of the things about a passion is that it clamors to be shared. Richards was fortunate that there were literally millions of people with whom he could share his passion. I don't expect to share my passion with millions, but if I can share it with a few and perhaps ignite that passion in someone else, then I will be immensely satisfied.
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