Run The Mile You’re In

1 mile down, 6 to go.

Only 45 minutes left. 40…35…30…

The minute I cross the street and go from walking to running, I am counting down. I love running, I really do, but there is a struggle between my mind and my body. Some days my mind is fully prepared to run, it urges my tired and leaden legs forward. Other days my legs are ready to go 100 miles, but my mind wants nothing to do with the pavement beneath my feet.

There are good running days and there are bad running days. The bad running days are brutal and each step, each labored breath, each drop of sweat pleads for me to stop. On those days I am only looking forward to the second that my run is over and I can move onto better things, easier tasks, and just take a shower and wash the bad run juju off my body.

But then I think of a quote from Scott Jurek’s book, Eat And Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness.

Run the mile you are in.

It’s so simple yet so powerful. Run the mile you are in. Be there. Be totally present for THAT mile, right now. Notice the air on your face, the sites around you. Take inventory of your body and see where you are in that moment. Don’t think about the tough hill in that next mile, stop longing for the finish line, and run the mile you are in.

Take this mantra and apply it to all areas of your life. Having a hard time eating better and incorporating more healthy food? Run the mile you are in. Don’t think of all the things you have to give up, focus on what you can do today to make a better choice. In the middle of a tough project at work? Run the mile you are in. Stop thinking about what will happen if you don’t meet the deadline, accomplish one task at a time until you reach the end. Finding your life in a rough patch? Run the mile you are in. While the suffering might hurt, learn as much as you can from this experience so you can grow as a person and help others with similar problems.

My tough run is making me a stronger person. I need to be there for every single mile of that tough run to get the full effect of it’s lessons. I need to be present for all moments of my life instead of wishing and waiting for better things. Often the better things are passing us by in those moments we are wishing were over sooner.