"No man is an island entire of itself "
John Donne
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson drafted the famous words for the American Declaration of Independence that said that all people have certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is much to be said about these words and how they are to be interpreted. Some say that they simply mean that all people have the right to pursue their own happiness. However, this interpretation is somewhat problematic. Does this mean everyone has the right to pursue what ever their heart desires, no matter the cost to others? It is not hard to find examples of those who feel their individual happiness goals supersede others,but that is a subject for a different blog. Others argue that the intention of the word "happiness" at that time referred less to pursuits of self-gratification, and more to the "feeling of self worth and dignity you acquire by contributing to your community and to its civic life." ( Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, 2005). No matter what interpretation of these words that you choose, it is hard not to see how they became the foundation of American identity.
Running is a very individual sport, but like (or unlike, depending on your perspective) Jefferson's famous words, it is not solely about the individual. It is impossible to separate what we as individuals do, and the rest of society. We are constantly interacting with others and our environment.
True, I do the running, but behind everything I do are countless people. For starters, I run with a group at the Running Room. This week, on yet another rainy Wednesday evening, no one from marathon group showed up. It could have been the rain, the darkness or the fact that we are at the peak of flu season, I am not sure, but it left me with a decision: run the route on my own or join a different group. I could have run the route on my own, but instead I ran a shorter distance with the 1/2 marathon group. I need the people. It is not just the encouragement I get from people like Tara Visser ( who, while running her own tempo pace across the street and going in the opposite direction, thinks to yell, "Looking good, Sara!"), but it is the feeling of doing something together. With the group, I run faster, stronger and with better form. With the group, I will often forget about the distance, the cramp in my calf , or that I am running faster than I would have on my own. My individual pursuit collides with others and we work together, not against each other, to reach our goals. Even on race day, while we technically race against each other, in the end the race is just with ourselves, and in order to get there, we need others.
It is not just fellow runners that help me in my individualistic endeavour. Behind absolutely everything I do are these fine people:
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If for one second, I thought that my running would hurt my family, my individual pursuit to complete a marathon would be over. But instead, they are my biggest champions and for that I am truly grateful.
And, this time, I have dedicated this training to two other people (my father and Aunt Mary-lynn) who are serving as my inspiration. They are keeping me accountable more than they will ever know. My individual pursuit once again collides with others.
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We are not alone. Even if we pursue out individualist dreams and desires for the ultimate goal of happiness we rely on others and others rely on us. It is not a right to simply pursue self-gratification, as this is not happiness. There is symbiotic relationship between your happiness and others. You cannot sacrifice others happiness for your own. What happens to others happens to all. No one is an island all by themselves.
This week my pursuit gave me the following runs:
Sunday LSD:16.70 km
Tuesday Tempo:6.26 km; 5.52min/km
Wednesday Tempo: (with 1/2 marathon group)5.12 km ; 5.52 min/km
Friday: steady: 9.11 km. 6.26min/km
Total:37.2 km
Next Sunday is the First Half Marathon, so this next week will be a bit of a taper before vamping up for the remainder of the Marathon training.
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