Dear Kids:
You know how I always say to you, 鈥淪top! Stop growing up so fast!鈥 Well, I don鈥檛 really mean it. I know you can鈥檛 stop, and I wouldn鈥檛 want you to, anyway. That鈥檚 your job, and I can鈥檛 wait to see the strong, wise people you are becoming. But before you get too big, I want to share some things I鈥檝e learned about endurance and stamina. They鈥檙e lessons about running, but you can also apply them to life. You might not understand them now, but I hope that someday you might.
Once I met long-distance runner . This was ten years ago, when I wanted to leave my job as an editor at 国产吃瓜黑料 to pursue my lifelong dream of writing. I wanted to make the leap, but I was afraid to because my whole identity was wrapped up in my job. The day I met Dean, I was supposed to interview him for a magazine story. He was trying to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. It was taking an extreme toll on his body and mind. Dean was running four hours every morning, and then hopping into a car or plane to get to the next state. He should have been exhausted, but when I met him, he was elated. Absolutely ecstatic.
I decided to interview Dean while he was running, so I ran next to him, holding my tape recorder and asking questions. I was only going to run five or six miles, but we kept talking, and I just kept going. Pretty soon, I鈥檇 run 15 miles, then 20, and then the finish line was coming into view. I鈥檇 accidentally run my first marathon: 26.2 miles. It hadn鈥檛 been easy, but it hadn鈥檛 hurt as much as I鈥檇 thought it would. I was surprised by this, so I asked Dean his secret to running extremely long distances.
He told me, 鈥淵ou can always go farther than you think you can. You鈥檙e stronger than you think you are.鈥
His words stuck with me. I understood that they were true because I had just experienced them firsthand while running with him. If you had asked me before I met Dean if I could run a marathon without training, I would have said no way. But I did that day. Six weeks later, I made the leap I鈥檇 been afraid to take鈥擨 quit my job and started writing. It had always been my dream, and now I was finally doing it.
It wasn鈥檛 easy all the time, but I remembered what Dean told me: 鈥淚f you think you can鈥檛 go on, just set your eyes on something ahead of you and tell yourself you鈥檙e going to run to that tree just ahead. When you get to the tree, tell yourself you鈥檙e going to run to the next telephone pole. And so on.鈥 This is actually how I鈥檝e finished many long races and training runs. It鈥檚 also how I got through 30 hours of childbirth without pain medication, rafting 98 miles through the wilderness with a broken leg, and writing the most challenging parts of my book (Running Home, forthcoming from Random House).
It鈥檚 not that following your heart won鈥檛 hurt sometimes. It will. Some days, you won鈥檛 even want to try. Many times, you will be afraid. This, I鈥檝e learned through ultrarunning, is the sign that you鈥檙e growing. It鈥檚 the sign to keep going. Move toward the fear and the hurt, and you will eventually pass through them. They will not last forever. You just have to believe this. But you will also forget it sometimes and think you can鈥檛, and this is normal, too. You are so much stronger than you know. You can and will go so much farther than you can even imagine.
I believe in you completely, but on the days that you don鈥檛 believe in you, think of me believing in you. I will carry you on those days.