There is nothing mental about running. It’s all physical. And marathon running is not a metaphor for life.

I’m stealing this thought from a story I came across a few days ago. I wish I saved it. It resonated so strongly.

I’m not an elite runner, but I’ve earned my right to talk about running. Four sub three-hour-hour marathons in two years, in my forties. I PRed every time. The next goal is to improve from 2.44 to sub 2.40. I’m bragging a bit, but it’s not even my results that matter. There are many runners better than me. This matters more:

I’ll hit 10,000 miles later this year! I bought my Garmin running watch in the summer of 2020 when my running became consistent and when I introduced new workouts to my running, like intervals. I’m still wearing the same watch, three years later. The battery requires more frequent charging, but it’s not too bad. This gadget has been my dearest and most reliable companion, every day in these three years. I mean it: every day. I’ve not missed a day of running, save for several weeks when I was injured and when I took planned rest days.

That was an introduction. Back to the topic of my story. Two of my kids play competitive tennis. I watched my sixteen-year-old son play two matches today. His athletic journey is a complex one. He struggled a lot with his discipline during COVID, and it…