How? Or more importantly, Why?

Ran for a shade over 3 hours and 9 minutes yesterday *BIG smiles*
about 24km, so just under a 8 min per km pace - slower than I would like, but it's hilly where I run so I should be too hard on myself.

Quads aren't entirely happy today, but all in all, I'm feelin' good!

So I had a bit of time to think while on the road...

I was out at dinner on Saturday night when a friend asked repeatedly, "How do you do it? Where do you find the discipline, the motivation??". And then, "Why would you do it? I just don't understand..."
I'd like to think that the Why is easier to understand than the How, but on occasion, I realise that not everyone feels that pull.

I have always been someone who sets goals, who needs to feel that I have grown or improved with each passing year. I have the intrinsic yearning for the sort of capability, dedication, focus, physical mastery that you see in professional sports people, challenged athletes, marathoners... anyone who is pushing the envelope on what they should 'normally' be able to do.

My assumption is that the desire for self-improvement, the continuous extension of limits, the challenge, that yearning is common to us all... and that is the simple answer to the "Why?".
When every week, I am able to run further than I've ever done before (granted... one day, I will hit a wall with this one, won't I?)... when after every really hard session, I know I have gained strength mentally and emotionally... that is more than enough to keep me going.

Running and training is like Life, condensed. It asks of me as much as it can get, but it also gives bountifully in return. The gap to be bridged between my physical capabilities and Roger Federer's or Paula Radcliffe's is a forever chasm, but that does not mean that I cannot explore the limits of my talent and celebrate the power of my being. The discovery of how far I've come and the possibility of how much further I can go... that is one of the most amazing life lessons I've had in years.

And like Life, running teaches me to be at peace while striving - my body is what I have, is what I have been given even if it may not be what I want. Every time I push it to be 'more', I also ask myself to accept what it is in that moment.

Running is about heart... so it's more about Why than How. If I started by asking how, then I would have been swallowed up in doubt, overcome by a tide of "Cannot... no way... how could I?". Why, instead, reminds me daily that I want to be better, stronger, faster, more patient and wise... why, reminds me of the who I might one day become...