Are you Jealous?

We all know jealousy exists almost everywhere we go. There is jealousy at work, at the gym, and between siblings. I am sure jealousy is a common ingredient in the life of professional athletes as well. But I have found a place where, so far, jealousy is not part of it: recreational runners. We all run because we want to, not because we make a living out of it or because we have to impress someone. The only person we want to impress is ourselves. We all know and appreciate the great effort it takes to finish a race. We all know what it takes to break off some seconds from your previous race time. We all know what it feels like training in the rain, snow and wind, at night or early in the morning. We all know what a Sunday afternoon feels like, after running 20 kilometers in the morning, and you still need to clean your house, go grocery shopping, cook, etc. We all know this because we all do it every week. So, when we see someone improving their times, passing us, finishing a race under two hours, we all say fuck, that is great! Wow!!!! There is not jealousy but admiration and respect because we all know what it takes to get there.

I have been doing the Grind every week of the summer as part of my cross training. I usually finish it under an hour, and in my way up I am usually passing people, just a few male grinders pass me. Today, this young lady passed me with this amazing pace; she was going up two stairs at a time and she was going fast. I was very impress because I know I am fit and there is no way I could keep up with her. When I got to the top, she was already there of course, I told her “great pace! I saw you and I was like shit look at her.” She was so happy that I said that to her. She smiled, said thanks and put her fist up. She was proud of herself and was happy that someone saw and acknowledged what she did.

We all compete against ourselves, no one else. We are all different, we have different bodies, weakness, health issues, and we are all aware of it. That is why when we tell a no runner about a race that we just ran and they ask us if we won, we always say “of course I won. I always win. I race against myself not against the other ten thousand people that were running, and just by racing I am winning.”

My Animal Lover Note: Yesterday we had our September Langley Herbivores potluck. There were lots of new people that want to try the vegan diet and some old vegans that just heard about us. Two high lights of the potluck:
•I saw the most beautiful vegan family: mom, dad and three girls all vegans, beautiful and healthy.
•A 13 year old girl came with her mom. The girl became vegan a year ago after watching Forks over Knifes and Earthlings (I highly recommend both). She told her mom she was not going to eat any animal products and despite the mom’s efforts to change her mind, she stuck to it. Wow! That is the kind of will and commitment people need. Now mom fully supports her and even though she is not vegan, she cooks for her daughter and understands her points of view.