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by Michael Selman It has been said that runners have their best thoughts of the day while out running. Runner and writer Michael Selman shares his "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com.
He was highly educated, and I was not. He was comfortable with his introversion. I was not. He was the personification of the union of body and soul. When I ran, so I was, at least in my own mind. Perhaps I was afraid to read his books because I was afraid I would see to much of my hidden self in his words. Perhaps I was afraid of being jealous that he might have said something that I had always felt, and said it better than I ever could. For whatever reason, I stayed away. I started writing about four years ago, inspired in part by the man I had met several times, but never knew. The reasons I started writing are many. I started writing so I would have something to fall back on if ever I became injured. I just couldn't imagine life without running, if there was not something else that could provide the same sense of well-being. I started writing because I had the talent to do so, and I realized that talent. Everyone has special talents. Some people discover their own, and have no problem exhibiting them. Some people never realize their own talents, and they remain undiscovered. Others are embarrassed by their own talents, and make a point of keeping them hidden. At one time, that was me. Over time, I accepted the fact that having a talent is okay, and even showing it off a little bit might not be so bad. Some people resent other people's talents, but just like running the race, there will always be someone faster, and there will always be someone slower. Way back in those early days, when I started writing, I was also introduced to the Internet, and discovered a new way to important people's front doors. Of course, almost all the people that were important to me were runners. Some were also writers. I'll always remember one morning, I hunted down John Bingham on my AOL buddy list and IM'ed him out of the blue. Eventhough he was entertaining out of town family guests at that moment, and didn't know me from Adam, he didn't brush me off. I asked him some questions about getting published, and one of the questions he asked me was what my writing style was. I told him it was a lot like George Sheehan. His response has stuck in my mind ever since. He simply asked "Do you think we need another Sheehan?" So that might be one of the reasons I never read any of his books. I did not want to be another George Sheehan. Maybe I said to myself, how could I be another Sheehan if his writings remained unfamiliar to me? I wanted to be the first me. A little over 2 years ago, I got injured, and couldn't run for months. That was also the time that I came to the sad realization that without running, the writing didn't happen either. I guess I never had the foresight to think about how intricate that union of the body and soul was for both. So, for the most part, the writing stopped when the running did. I just couldn't do one without the other. It was a very difficult time for me. Harriet and I have had discussions in the past about original thought, and the fact that there has to be less and less of it with every passing day. In the history of the world, is there even such a thing, any more. With billions of people walking the earth for thousands of years, is it even possible for an individual to think anything new any more, that has never been already thought by someone else? Chances are, there is precious little that is new any more. But 98% of all thoughts that have ever been thought probably remain known to the exclusive few that have thought them. My main goal as a writer has not been to come up with any original thought, but rather to share my innermost thoughts of my love for running, thoughts that have been inspired by running, in the hopes that maybe someone else shared in those thoughts, and could relate. Any time I would get a response to a posting that said "I wish I had thought of that" I took it to mean you probably already have, but just needed it put in words. This past month, things have happened with my writing that have never happened before. I've been lucky enough to be published in both Runner's World and Footnotes, and it looks like more will be happening in the future. Being published was never the motivation for my writing, and never will be. But I'll have to admit, it is a nice reward, not so much for the monetary rewards, but because it's reaching a very large audience, and that's what I want to do. I am not really sure why I am writing what I'm writing today. It wasn't my intent to post at all. Maybe it's because I'm newly injured again, and may not be running for a while, and I need to demonstrate to myself that I can write without benefit of the run. Maybe it's just because I have come to appreciate the Internet community in a special way. I have to be honest and say that very few days go by where Harriet and I don't talk about something that was written on one of the running lists we subscribe to. Maybe it's because I've been deeply touched about how, time and time again, a whole running Internet community quickly runs to the aid of the one who is in pain, and there is nothing virtual about that. It's all very real. I realized this weekend that maybe now is the time to start reading Sheehen, and that I don't need to be afraid to read his thoughts from cover to cover. If some of his thoughts are also my thoughts, which I know they will be, that's all the better. He was only trying to do some of the same things other writers have tried to do, only he did it sooner, and better. So, to answer John Bingham's question, "Do we need another Sheehan?" I already know the answer before I even start the adventure. The answer is no, we do not need another George Sheehan. Probably what we need to do is get acquainted with, or reacquainted with the one we have, whose words are timeless, and possibly more relevant today than they were 20 years ago. They say that Sheehan was ahead of his time. Perhaps, now, we might discover that we are ready to hear him the way he intended to be heard. Have a great month, running, and in every other way.
Michael Selman Michael Selman is a freelance writer who lives in Atlanta GA. he has appeared in publications and web sites throughout the country, including Runner's World, Footnotes, and Cool Running.
Thanks Michael for sharing your "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com Look here for more "Thoughts on Running" by Michael Selman
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I have some confessions to make. Other than short excerpts, I have never read
Sheehan, other than the column he used to write for Runner's World. From that
one monthly page, however, I knew that, even though we were worlds apart in
many ways, that we were two peas in a pod in others. 