There is a great scene in the terrible movie "What Women Want" where Helen Hunt's character is thinking of a pitch for Nike's women's division. In her head she's describing a woman running: "She's running. It's early, it's quiet. Just the sound of her feet on the asphalt. She likes to run alone. No pressure, no stress. This is the one place she can be herself. Look any way she wants, dress, think any way she wants. No game playing, no rules."
This is how I feel about running. You can be yourself. No one is judging you. That is running. You're not the person who didn't get into grad school, or the person who messed something up at home or at work. You're the runner.
Sometimes, the only reason why I continue to run is because I feel like it's the only thing I'm capable of doing. Sometimes every other part of my life feels like I'm failing or stupid or incompetent. Running saves me from that. When I tell people that I run marathons or that I'm training for an ultramarathon, then they listen to me. Then they think I'm important. The truth is that I'm not even that good at running, but at least when you're running all that matters is that you reach the finish line.
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