respect.

as the winter weather is slowly (and reluctantly) releasing its grip on this part of the country, i'm beginning to notice something.

there are more people running outside.

more runners hitting the pavement at 6:00 am with me.

and you know, something?  that's great.

i've read plenty in the last couple of months about how people struggle to make the transition to getting outside and beating the winter doldrums.  i was also reading a post last week titled "evening runner trapped in the mind of a morning runner", and thinking about how so many people find it tough/preferable not to run in the wee morning hours.

and just yesterday i recognized (thanks to dailymile) that i've eclipsed 1500km run in 2013 - something that i'm proud of, not because of how much more that might have been than anyone else, but because it's evidence of the fact that i've managed to stick with each day's prescribed run of the hansons marathon training schedule.

so when i kept my facebook friends up-to-date on my training efforts, i received in a response a number of "wows" accompanied by "i'm only ..." statements.

honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me if you're running 5k or 50 miles.

you could be clocking a 3 minute kilometre or an 11 minute kilometre.

your track of choice could be the treadmill, the oval, the lonely rural roads or the dog walking path.

healthier living could be your motivator, or a 10k age group award.

the fact is, you're moving.

and if you're moving, you're focusing on living.

so i tip my hat to you.

respect.