Trust Part Two : Are We All Crazy?

The idea of trust was my intention for Week Two of marathon training and maybe it's the Law of Attraction, maybe it's just happenstance, but a running friend who leads my area's Moms Run This Town chapter tagged me in a running quote this week which resonated with me:

Runners have an unspoken bond that's unmatched in any other sport.  We're trusting of complete strangers.  In every other group I've joined in my life, trust is earned gradually--it has to be proven.  With most runners I've met, trust is assumed.  We support each other immediately and without hesitation.  More than any other group, my running friends are fiercely loyal.  I don't know why "good people run," but I have a guess.  We build relationships outside in nature, forcing us to leave the stress, anxiety, and societal pressures behind for just an hour or so.  We leave the drama at work, family stress, and we just focus on the run.  All we need to have a good time is a pair of shoes. 
~Joanna Reuland 

My Kids 

The fact that I'm even in a Mom's running group just shows the openness of the running community, seeing that my "kids" have fur and terribly awful breath and I have an irrational phobia about pregnancy (which is sometimes exacerbated by the motherhood stories told by my MRTT friends).  At first, the trust was almost a little unnerving.  While on runs with brand new people, life stories would quickly be unfurled, deep dark secrets revealed, and highly personal stories about bodily functions were common place.  Who are these crazy people who tell complete strangers these kinds of things?!  I'm a country girl, raised in the heartland.  We don't share our business with anyone.  At least that's what I thought until I started running.  With my running friends, I've found an outlet to work through problems and often just to admit some of the deep dark crazy stuff going on in my head.

We listen to each other, we cheer each other on through the miles and through mental blocks.  We cry for each other through injuries and across finish lines.  We get up for one another at ungodly hours of the morning (usually on the weekends) to meet for long runs, because we would never dare to let our partners down by bailing on that awful twelve miler scheduled for the day.  We give advice about products, training programs, and all the perplexing problems that come along with running, always ending advice with the caveat, "you need to do what works for you."  We never feel judged or preached to.

We ask if anyone needs one last poop before we hit the road, and we swap stories of lost toe nails. We share our chub rub and our last packet of GU with a random person in a race clearly in need of a pick-me-up.  When I found myself in a half marathon listening in on a conversation of two strangers pondering "Do you think anyone's ever peed themselves while running?" I spoke up and said, "Yup, it happens, I've done it."  Seriously?!  Running is a no holds barred sport, in that anything is open game for discussion (and face, it, we all need the distraction of a completely inappropriate conversation).  But truly understanding the mental, emotional and physical struggle of running five minutes, five miles, five hours, that is a bond that is universal.  And that's where the trust is formed.

Runners might all be crazy, but running is always cheaper than therapy.  
     

Just a Few of My Therapists