Iron, you might be interested to know, is a chemical element residing in group 8 period 4 of the periodic table with an atomic number of 26. It is the most common element found on the planet Earth; produced in the fusion of high mass stars from the decay of nickel-56. Iron is the last element to be produced before the collapse of a supernova.
Iron plays an important role in biology, forming complexes with molecular oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin; two compounds commonly found in our blood for the purpose of oxygen transport. We have the ashes of exploding stars flowing through our bodies.
We all have iron within us.
Here’s my gift to you: it’s this understanding. You are built on a foundation of iron; literally with the star born elements flowing in your blood and metaphorically for all that you have overcome to get to this point in your life.
Over the next few years, I’m going to make a case for why you should continue to run, and why non-runners should lace up their shoes. Through a serious of interconnected arguments, statements of truth and revelations from greater minds than my own: I am certain that you will come to understand and appreciate why running is so important, why life is in fact sacred, and why living our lives as runners is to live our lives to the top.
Some of you probably think you believe this already, which is great: but understanding and belief are two very different things. You can believe in God, but that doesn’t mean you could ever understand him. You can believe that 23% of the stuff that makes up the observable universe is Dark Matter…but you can’t understand it and you can believe that the act of running can transform your life on many levels, but to understand how and why you have to dig in deeper.
We’ve talked for six years about the health, psychological, and even spiritual benefits of running…but there’s so much more, and it all leads to the same place…what the author Stephen King describes in his Dark Tower series of novels as “the clearing at the end of the path”.
I couldn’t explain to you, today, in a summarily complete and concise way: exactly how or why running is so critically important; so we’re going to begin a journey; together…and it’s not always going to be happy and fun: it’s going to take an inner strength and a foundation of iron within us to consider and contemplate what the great philosophers of the world have said on the subject of life, death, purpose and happiness…but if you’ll come with me, if you’ll lace up your shoes: plug your iPod into your head and take to the road with me; I promise you this: that together we’ll one day reach the clearing at the end of the path; and will know what it means to run long, and taper.
LINKS:
“Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti and Spearhead http://michaelfranti.com
“The World Is Upside Down” by A Band Called Quinn http://www.myspace.com/abandcalledquinn
“Me, My Baby and My iPod” by Jesta http://www.jestamusic.com
“Nothing But a Song” by Great Big Sea
“Salala” by Angelique Kidjo; with Peter Gabriel http://www.kidjo.com
“This Ship Goes Down Deep” and “Say Goodbye” by Black Lab http://blacklabworld.com
“All That Matters” was by Mark Knopfler