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This is how it works-
I love to run but there are times when I would rather not. This is when the voices start. Chants, name calling, guilt and reverse psychology is how they get me up and out the door. I don't really mind the voices and have actually started looking forward to their daily calls. Together we have formed a running club that supports, encourages and competes with each other. I love these peeps. They are much more experienced, talented and tougher than I am. Pushing me out the door, through the hard miles and up the monster hills when I am feeling lazy or want to give up. Some people have "real" training partners, coaches and support crews. My team is ALWAYS with me and helps me to keep my eye on the prize and not veer off the track. Sounds crazy- Yeah, probably is.........

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Tyler is my HERO

"Hey, you created me. I didn't create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better. Take some responsibility!" - Tyler Durden in Fight Club.

     I don't have Tyler Durden in my head. But I have a dude a whole lot like him. In fact, I call him Tyler. He likes to cuss me and bully me around. I love him. He pisses me off all the time, gets on my nerves when I feel like I am going to die and pushes me to get up and get the miles in when I have no interest at all in training. Fortunately, for me, my Tyler only wants to punish me. Unless, of course, I can rope somebody into coming along on a long run in the heat of summer or the freezing temps of the winter, but that is more their own fault than mine or Tyler's. 


     I think that anybody who pushes themselves out the door or onto a treadmill and runs has someone like this in their head. An instinct or drive to focus on the task and complete something that is HARD. Without this "voice" they're would be no distance runners, without this "voice" a lot of us would be eating Doritos or Cheetos on our couches while slurping down a soda and watching re-runs of Seinfeld. Accept it, we all hear "voices". It is what keeps us going in the lonely and difficult runs, be it a marathon or a short training run. We need to hear that encouragement and, at times, that kick in the butt to finish strong. 


     Many people say that runners, distance or endurance runners in particular, are crazy. I think they may be right. Most runners have a loose screw or two but not my Tyler. That dude is a STUD......

2 comments:

Elizabeth Drummond said...

I particularly like this post, David. A lot of men I know identify strongly with the movie Fight Club. For me, I wasn't really aware of the voices in my head until that day I fell out of my first run in Basic Training. That was the day I created the "Super Me", the one that does not accept "can't" and refuses to believe anything is impossible. She's kind of a control freak at times and a little bitchy, but she gets her point across.

I like the way you write, David. You should encourage more people to follow your blog. It's a good read. Keep it up!

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