lucila soto

The morning is cold and the sun is down, each breath I take makes me cold inside, but I know that in a while the shivers won’t matter at all as my soul will be above my body and its mundane needs.
I’m prepared for this, for months, even years now, I have been thinking of nothing more. My mind, body and soul are ready for the deed and I will leave behind all other link, all other thought, all other feeling that forbids me from leaving for a while my former self.
I start moving, my heartbeat, my breathing change in rhythm, my temperature rises and my mind focuses. First I’ll think of the pains, aches and every small sensation I’m physically feeling but it will fade away and I’ll start paying attention to my surroundings, the people I pass along the way, the people that pass me, the landscape, the smells, the light and the wind that blows.
Problems at work, arguments with people, recent events and the ever-recurring-thoughts-of what will become of me, what will happen with my life, which path to follow, will then come to mind, this is a third stage of being in motion.
Time passes but suddenly I gain conscience only to notice that 5 minutes have elapsed, I’m still moving and I have arrived to some other landmark from where I was 5 minutes ago. I know I have reached runner’s heaven when this happens, usually after my 10th kilometer.

This is my 8th year as a serious runner but I believe I was born one. Some people are born to swim, some to play golf, some to dance, some to climb, some to box or hike or bike. Some are not prone to sports -or at least they say so.

My thoughts are that a human being is brains, soul and body and for that fulfillment should come as a whole for those 3 areas, so every one of us has abilities and capabilities within that should be explored along those lines. And being realistic, very few selected ones are to become first rate athletes in the style of my heroes Haile Gebrselassie or Oscar Pistorius, so in the common case we will only compete with ourselves which turns out to be the most challenging competition of all, as competitive beings who love challenge, we specially love to challenge ourselves. Be better than your former self, don’t age but upgrade!

So, running is my thing. Specially long distance, specially at the forest, specially if it’s a cold morning. No other sport I have practiced, no other stuff I have done has ever left me with the sense of achievement and well being as crossing the finish line of my first 15k race, my first half-marathon and latter my first marathon. I think it has to do with the self imposition of this path I have chosen, which, in the end is set by my own pace, rhythm and internal wind.

As the Penguin says: Waddle on friends!