Runner..... Fighter... its all the same!

Today would mark the worst run of my short running career. As I pounded my way down the track I started thinking about the difference between a fighter and a runner. Is there a difference? To some the answer is yes and to others, such as myself, the answer is undoubtedly a NO. Fighters stand toe to toe with another person and they try to physically beat down the other person. All fighting be it boxing or MMA, its all the same. At the end of the round only one person remains and they are the strongest and toughest of the two. Well to me being a runner is much the same. Before the run we don't stand with another human and try to impart our physical domination over them, but we stand with ourselves. The fight of a runner is a mental as well as physical battle. As a runner there is always that little voice that whispers to us "Why? Why do this? Doesn't it hurt? What is to gain, you could just go home and sit in recliner and watch last nights episode of Castle in the air conditioning." And for the duration of the run that voice continues to whisper and at some points in the run it comes to a roar that is almost deafening. Some days, we win this battle and others, like today, we do not. I think its important during the down moments when that little voice wins to remember that, to me, what defines a persons toughness isn't the ability to continue when the going is easy, but it is the ability to go back out their and lace those shoes up for another run. Its the grit it takes when you know a half mile in that your calves will burn with a fury of a thousand suns. Like I said earlier today wasn't a good day for me, today that little voice won. The days after will determine whether are not I can count myself a runner and a fighter. As I have been told before though.... I don't know when to quit.