This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
John is doubly impressive because on a somewhat regular basis (like, once every five years or so), he has been forced to reinvent his run- ner as a result of a nonrunning accident (such as riding a bike over railroad tracks and breaking his hip to the point that it required a metal plate) that puts him on the disabled list for months at a time. Each time he has eased back into running and reemerged as good as ever and sometimes even better. He has essentially been reborn on a regular basis. Even those with decades of experience can be reborn. Kathrine


Switzer, one of the pioneers of women’s running, twice the head of the Avon running program and the author of Marathon Woman, related this surprising and refreshing development in her own search for the inner athlete: When people would say to me, “I used to run, I don’t anymore.


I should get back to it. I always liked it,” I used to be amazed. How on earth could you like running and not do it? Now, after running for 50 years, I think I understand a little


better. The athlete within is always there; just finding it is often challenging. I never stopped running, and still define myself first as an athlete,


but over the last 10 years I was spending less and less time actu- ally doing it. Work, travel, fatigue, higher priorities—you know the story—all resulted in my running less. Consequently, I got slower, put on weight for the first time in my life, and was less confident of my physical capability. Well, hell, I was 60, I told myself. Of course I had less capability! After running 35 marathons, it became more fascinating to do


the TV commentary of the race. After thousands of miles of Sunday- morning long runs, using that time to write another book was more challenging to me. There was still joy and great creativity in my daily run, but it wasn’t compelling enough to make me push myself.


 


And then a funny thing happened. Fascinating events began


popping up that didn’t exist even a decade ago. Like running on a game reserve in Kenya, or running three races in three days in Bermuda, or running over a mountain range over rough tracks and through rivers in New Zealand. I found myself wishing I could do them, and annoyed at not being 28 anymore. Back then, I only had to pull on my shoes and I was there. And now what? Was the old athlete somewhere inside me even capable of trying? And then another funny thing happened. I was meeting women


who were 65 and 70 years old who had just started running and were doing these events. Older than me! Way older than me! That was it; if they could do it, I could, too. For years I had the reputa- tion for motivating others, and now, presto! They were motivating me. It’s the truth: Finding the athlete inside happens quickly when you are inspired or when your competitive hackles are raised. The athlete was there inside raring to go; it just needed a goal to give me the focus. The ongoing process has been funny, wistful, time-consuming,


and extremely enlightening. Although the outcome has yet to be determined, I can say for certain that it is humbling to have to work so hard again; it is bewildering to still feel inside how I felt at 28 but how incapable I am of being anything but 63, how hilarious (you have to laugh) it is to have to spend twice as much time training now as I did then because it takes me twice as long to cover the same distance and because I need a nap afterward. But it is thrilling in the extreme to find that old lioness getting stronger again; perhaps a bit wobbly and flea-bitten but still roaring. The athlete lurks in all of us. It is our human nature honed over


tens of thousands of years. It is up to us to open the cage and let it loose. Even if it goes on hiatus, remember that it can still be revived and again released into the wild.


  


  


 





ISBN 978-0-7360-0124-1 $77.95 CDN





This course will teach you the skills necessary to work with people as you design cardio- fitness walking and running programs to enhance their overall well-being.


View all courses at: HumanKinetics.com/can-fit-pro


 


 N256


HUMAN KINETICS The Information Leader in Physical Activity & Health


MARCH/APRIL 2011 canfitpro 41


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48