Shared Passions and Common Ground

As of today, my father-in-law is registered for the Pigman Half-Ironman triathlon in August. He actually ran the Dam to Dam 20k yesterday.

My father-in-law (Bill) is one of my favorite people, but he and I don't have a ton in common. He likes to hunt, and obviously that ain't my bag. He loves a good steak, and I'm a vegetarian. He likes ultimate fighting (as do my husband and mother-in-law) and I really don't get it--I've tried. However, we get along quite well and I enjoy his company a lot. In particular, he has a great sense of humor and I appreciate that he can take a joke like a pro. He can dish it out but he can take it too (as they say).

Where we do have common ground is with running and triathlon stuff. He may not get my need to not eat meat, but he gets my need to run a marathon. And it gives us something that we share and something to talk about.

The reason I bring this up is because running is a hobby or passion that many people share. Although running can be a very solitary activity, interacting over running is a social thing. I may be at a party where I feel out of place, but if I can find someone who enjoys running, we can have an enjoyable and surprisingly lengthy conversation. It's a good thing for me, especially since I am not always the best conversationalist.

I'm sure this isn't unique to running. I don't meant to imply that people who run are "above" others in any sense because they have a shared love of running, or that you should limit interactions with people who don't run. If you are a knitter, and you meet another knitter, you might have a sudden sense that that person "gets" you in a certain way. I often have that feeling when I realize someone I've met is obsessed with their pets (like I am, admittedly). It's just a matter of being passionate about something and discovering you share that passion with another person.

One thing I don't like is when runners continually post the length of their run on Facebook. This is my pet peeve. I am also annoyed by people who continually spout their running statistics. You ran a half-marathon in 1:28? I don't really care. Your run today was 3.2388 miles in 26 minutes. So what? I find this is usually in sort of a bragging sense and it's also self-indulgent to think that others care about your specific statistics. What links runners is not your stats and numbers. In fact, that what separates us. You may win a race, whereas I am in the middle of the pack. Our specs may be quite different, but that's not the point.

We all have goals, and sometimes I think it doesn't really matter what are goals are. Our secretary at work recently lost a lot of weight (more than 50 lbs) and has started walking. She did a four mile local race a few weeks back. She could never have done this a few years ago. She came into work on Monday and posted the results on her office door. It wasn't about how fast she was. It was about doing it. Is that really that different than me doing a marathon in August?

When she was telling me about her four mile walk, I mentioned I was doing a half-marathon in June and a marathon in September. I hope it didn't come off as me trying to top her achievement. That wasn't how I intended it AT ALL. In fact, what I meant was that I understood. Her doing this race is really not different than me doing a marathon. It doesn't matter how far or how fast. It matters that it's your goal and you get it done. I really think the feeling is the same whether you're trying to qualify for the Olympics or you are finishing your first 5k.