I met with a friend for lunch who is another runner. He’s someone who happens to have some very significant accomplishments in his running resume. More than you might even imagine.

He mentioned something about someone we both knew in common referring to a PR in a marathon that this person recently achieved. It was a PR that surpassed mine considerably, but one that is realistically within my reach. In fact, its not faster than the long term goal I have my eyes set on. I mention this because, although I am extremely impressed by the PR he was able to pull off, I dont see it as something that puts him in another category as myself.

My buddy mentioned that he can only dream of being that fast. This made me think for a minute, and although I don’t often say much, my thoughts race quite fast. So fast, that I get lost in them focusing more on what I’m thinking than conveying what it is I’m thinking; so I wasn’t able to articulate how he already knew what it felt like to run that fast.

At this point, I sort of had an epiphany. As runners we already know that we are all chasing a PR and that we are all similar on that level. I’ve always believed it to be true, and understood that its the drive, determination, effort, and work we put into ourselves that makes us a runner, not how fast we are. After all, genetics play quite a bit in what we’re able to do in this sport and I’m often left wishing I had a better hand from the deck. Nonetheless, I make do with what I have just as everyone else across the whole pack.

But, while I realized that I was able to relate to what it felt like to run that fast, I initially thought it was because I knew the pace he ran and it was a pace I often run in training. I know the effort involved for that. But it sort of clicked at that point, that the effort feels the same for anyone pushing for a PR when it’s the most they can possibly run at a given distance.

Running the speed I can run today feels the same as running the speed I was able to run years ago which was much slower. The guy who runs twice as fast as me feels the experience no different than I, just as the guy running half the speed as I do feels it.

What I wanted to say at that moment is that he already knew what it’s like to run that fast. It feels no different that what its like for him when he runs his best possible marathon. The struggle and the effort certainly feels the same.

I know this is no great revelation. We’ve all heard it before. But, for me, I suddenly understood even better why speed is not what defines us as runners. Rather, its that feeling of running which we all seek to experience, and the fact that we all experience it the same way. Only other runners can understand this.

Apologies if the kumbaya is a bit much. Blame it on the three beers I had. Here, check this out in order to balance things a bit. It’s very entertaining :)