Chronicles of a Late Bloomer

It’s not uncommon for me to dream about running. In the dreams, of course, it always feels as effortless as runners make it look. Usually, the running constitutes only a small portion of the dream. I am running to get somewhere, or running away from something. Often I stop running because my dream self realizes, “Oh wait. I’m fat. I can’t run.”

Last night I had a dream that featured running and a few new developments. First, I was running in a race. Second, I deliberately ran slowly (though it still felt effortless) because I didn’t want to push myself too fast or too far. Thirdly, I stayed asleep until the sweet, sweet ending — that is, in my dream, I finished the race. I crossed the finish line. Maybe for the first time ever. And, sure, it was just a dream… but it was awesome.

It reminded me of a passage from John Bingham’s excellent book, The Courage to Start:

… You cannot pretend to be a runner, you actually have to run. In the end, being a runner is no more complicated than that. To be a runner, you simply have to run. It’s not enough to dream about being a runner. It’s not enough to plan on being a runner. Sooner or later, you have to run. And if you run, you are a runner.