The Energy of People!
It has been an interesting contrast of styles the last two years for me. Last year I decided I was going to run a marathon, a very big feat in my book. This year I decided to run it again because I enjoyed the challenge both physically and mentally, even though this will be the second time around it is still a big deal.
Last year I lived in Minneapolis and was able to run around the great chain of lakes that inspire Minneapolis to be the “City of Lakes”. Of course I am not the only one hanging out at the lakes, whether I would run at 6am or 10pm there would always be activity.
People swimming at the beach, running, walking, pushing babies in strollers, walking the dog, fishing, romantic walks, biking, or roller blading. I have always known that being in presence of people helps performance, at least in my case and I am sure for many others. San Diego State University found that people were able to lift more weight in the weight room when there were other people present rather than when they were alone. (They also found that men were able to lift even more when females were present – surprise, surprise.)
I got a reminder of how key the energy is that people bring this past weekend. I do not live in Minneapolis right now, I live in Prior Lake, which is a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis. My marathon training has taken me from the lakes to the roads.
There are very, very few people that cross my path as I run, only cars whizzing by. Some people may find this tranquil, for me, I feel the loss of energy. I have been able to deal with it by listening to music and staying strong mentally. This Sunday on a 10 mile run I broke down because I did not eat enough food that day. I was spent, I wanted to quit, I wasn’t happy, it was awful.
It was just me out there and it was hard, I ended up walking most of the 2 miles I had left. I remember situations like that last year during my training around the lakes and I was able to stay running because of the people that were around. I did not want all those people to see that I was defeated and I was able to press on. The funny thing is they don’t even know me! When I have no ENERGY, without a doubt, it helps to have people around… their presence is uplifting. It is great to understand a lesson intellectually, but once again I have gained a whole new respect for the power of the human element because I experienced it emotionally and physically.
For my next challenging training run I will make the 25 minute trek to Minneapolis to run around the lakes, I need some people power.
Song of the day, what else.
Life is a Highway- Tom Cochrane
James W. Anderson
(guest author)
