On Becoming a Runner

On Becoming a Runner © Norman Marcotte 2012 “To be that self which one truly is.” This quote from Carl Rogers, the influential humanistic psychologist, comes from his 1961 book On Becoming a Person. According to Rogers, the attributes of the person who becomes are four-fold: one who is more open to his or her experiences; one who trusts himself or herself to make the right decisions; one who accepts the locus of evaluation as residing within; one who lives life as a fluid ongoing process. Reflecting on the progression of an individual as a runner, the similarities with the concepts of Rogers are fascinating. Runners who are more open to their experiences “listen to their bodies”. The body becomes the instrument for discovering the appropriate actions in each situation. When going out for a hard workout when the body is begging for rest, runners listen and back off, calling it a recovery day. For each stimulus, need or demand, runners weigh and balance each option to determine the course of action to follow. Runners also become more aware of their own feelings and attitudes related to running. When they perform poorly in a race, runners do not pretend they are satisfied or that they do not care; they accept how they feel about it and express it naturally. When they are pleased with their results, they show their joy and acknowledge their efforts. People who become runners also become more aware of reality as it exists outside of themselves. They are realistic about how, for example, the windy conditions on the course affected their results. Trusting oneself as a runner is to believe or have faith that the months of efforts put into the training will deliver you to your finish line. That the sacrifices that have been made with respect to time commitments, food intake, or missed opportunities are all worthwhile and will bring you closer to your goal of becoming a runner. Trusting that when you toe that starting line, you belong there. A demanding race such as a marathon is a proving ground for determining the level of trust in oneself. Runners realise that the evaluation of themselves and of their performance lie within themselves. They do not look to others for approval or disapproval, for standards to be met, for decisions and choices. Runners do not compare themselves with others, but realistically evaluate their performance from their own perspective as it relates to previous performances and their level of preparation. For runners, the act of running is a fluid process, not an end state. They are more content to be an experience rather than a result. They do not run for that specific race goal, but for the enjoyment of the process of running on a regular basis towards a goal. Runners accept themselves as a journey to becoming, not a finish line; a winding road of movement, not a listing in the finishers’ results; a continually changing mass of potentialities, not a fixed performance. Runners evolve physically and mentally as they train, and the body and mind adapts. Runners accept the limitations of age and go with the flow. The journey to becoming a runner never really ends. We simply become more truly who we are.