That Run, Though

Greg Myers
Aug 8, 2017 · 4 min read

I want to be a better athlete.

I want to be a better person.

Most of all, I want to be harder to kill: Physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Oops. I shouldn’t say kill. I need something else.

I’m just trying not to be a pussy.

Oh, man. That’s worse. I guess that’s what I get for speaking my mind.

I probably offended people.

Still, I want what I want and I mean what I say. I’m not going to let what someone thinks change that.

But that never, ever negates the need for other people.

Never. Ever. I need you and you need me.

And if you think this is another MAGA publication, go somewhere else. This isn’t that. That stuff is sick.

You’ll find relentless forward progress here, but it’s with two feet and not social justice. Or progress. Or whatever it is people are ranting about.

I’m gonna try this again:

I want to become a better athlete.

I want to become a better person.

I want …

I want …

I want …

Eff it: I want to be harder to kill.

Doing this, becoming harder to kill, is difficult. I’m a dad in the suburbs. I have a mortgage. I drive a Mini Cooper. On the surface, I’m kind of a, you know, the “p” word.

The truth is I was. I’m not anymore. But I am still weak.

I can get better.

I can be harder to kill.

The best part is that it isn’t complicated. It is hard, though. It is really hard.

It makes for a great story, too.

We, as a species, fail to get where we want to go because we are always looking for the easy way there. Seriously: It’s physiology coupled with the strength of the human brain. Read it here, too.

Really, though, it’s magnificent.

And I don’t use that word to sound like a nerd. I meant it. Magnificent.

Of course, like America loves, capitalism got a hold of this phenomenon and churned out one messed up idea after another: Baby food diet, the clay diet, tapeworm — yes, tapeworm — diet, and, my favorite, the air diet:

“You hold your empty fork up to your mouth and pretend to eat high-calorie foods instead of giving into cravings, says Rebecca Scritchfield, R.D., author of Body Kindness.”

Insane.

Thank you Women’s Health. I didn’t know such stupidity lived and people believed it. Now if we could just get more people to read, maybe we could actually make America great and put the idots out of a job.

Seriously, people were eating air and pretending it was food like they were living Peter effing Pan.

Stab someone in the eye with their empty fork if you ever catch them doing this. Moving on.

Getting better, becoming harder to kill shouldn’t be complex. It shouldn’t be full of horseshit either. It should be hard, rewarding, and one of the best things you’ve ever done.

This is my story on how I’ve become harder to kill on my journey to become impossible to kill.

Or maybe I’m just fooling myself. Maybe everyone is right and my body is bound for a breakdown. Maybe I really only do have so many miles on my legs and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

I’ve heard it time and time again and I think they’re wrong time and time again. I still haven’t broke down. I still haven’t died.

This is me proving them wrong.

In three weekly installments, I’ll detail that journey.

“The Journal” will be detailing my training plan for my upcoming races, workout, and the journey of training. I’ll post routes, pictures, and tell the story of running: exhilarating last second poops, seeing the uninspired get inspired, stumbling across great routes and sights, stumbling down the road after an epic fall after taunting a biker … “The Journal” will be the story of running and training.

“Because, Science” is the application of running science in a language I understand. That means your four-year old will understand. I know what’s made me a better runner and, “Because, Science” is that story.

“That Run, Though” is the inspiration of running. Running has made me a better person. I think it can make the world a better place, but the world has forgotten how to run.

Let’s remember how to run. Let’s become better people and athletes. Let’s get impossible to kill.

We can’t do it with that run, though.

Greg Myers

Written by

Writer, Runner, Husband, Father: Trying to get better at all of them.

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