Welcome to Not Another Run Podcast. I'm your
host, Line 6. Today, we're talking commitment,
showing up under stress and bad weather and without
motivation because quitting isn't an option.
Before we get into today's episode, I would like
to share a couple of stories from fellow runners,
real moments that show what commitment actually
looks like. Our first story comes from Trent.
I was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew
up in a toxic environment in my teens. My family
moved to Florida. I spent the majority of my
early years riding freestyle BMX. It was a good
distraction from the turmoil at home. At 15,
I ran away from home and began hitchhiking around
the country. I didn't have a plan, just a need
to escape. Along the way, drugs became a part
of my story. Countless arrests, psychiatric centers,
and hospital visits. Eventually, the road carried
me to Manhattan, New York. Between the ages of
23 and 25, I cycled through a few inpatient treatment
facilities for substance abuse, most of which
I left early. The final treatment center was
the one that stuck. I've now been abstinent from
all mood and mind -altering substances for 15
years. During the last treatment stay, there
was a guitar in the treadmill that I used and
became instantly hooked, learning both simultaneously.
Running for me is more than an exercise, and
playing guitar was more than a hobby. They were
and still are means of survival. After treatment,
I spent a few more years renting rooms and bumming
around Manhattan, working several dead -end jobs
before returning to life on the road, mostly
freight hopping, all while maintaining my sobriety,
running when I could, and playing my punk songs.
on nearly every main street throughout North
America. I settled in La Grande, Oregon in 2021,
where at the age of 35, I secured my first apartment.
I worked diligently and earned my certification
as an alcohol and drug counselor, a role I've
been working in for the last four years. Running
has never been about distance or pace for me.
The goal has always been to escape the constant
noise inside my mind. When I run, I feel free.
There is no problem I cannot tackle. When I am
physically able to run consistently, I will run
until I cannot run anymore. And that's always
been enough for me. Lately, my energy has shifted
inward. I've been slowly building a new music
production studio in my apartment. Carving out
space when I can. Return to music with good lasting
intentions. I plan on spending the foreseeable
months tracking and mixing old songs alongside
new songs. I am writing that are still fading
and that are still finding their shape. Since
June 2025, I have not been able to run. A BMX
related calf rupture took me out abruptly and
has turned into a long. into the most long, difficult
injury of my life. It's been humbling. Losing
running meant losing my biggest outlet. The universe
forced me to adapt in ways I did not see coming.
I broke down and got a gym membership, resigning
to the elliptical, a less or more undesirable
form of cardio. It obviously helps, but it's
not the same. It does not quiet my mind like
running. but it is now part of my daily routine.
I personally find the elliptical to be the second
best form of cardio, so I'll be rolling with
it for now. I see a physical therapist twice
a week. Patience does not come naturally for
me, and this recovery process is an extremely
slow route back to running, which is now the
main goal. The only way through it is through
it, right? For now, I just continue to show up.
I refuse to let this new reality break my will.
I hope this helps somebody out there. Thank you,
Trent, for trusting this community with your
story. I really appreciate it, my man. Your resilience,
your recovery, and your willingness to keep going
is an inspiration to not only myself, but others.
Your story reminds people that healing is possible
and that simply showing up and not giving up
can be enough. Our next story comes from Dave.
Howdy, I'm a middle -aged guy who lives in Brooklyn,
New York. My running journey essentially started
with the 2014 NYC Half Marathon. Being my first
race in the first half marathon and the furthest
distance I had ran at that point, I did a few
more New York Roadrunner races, moving from half
marathon to the NYC Full Marathon in 2018, which
went horribly. I had no idea how to run or train
for a marathon. I joined a running club. I learned
how to train, what to eat, and drink on the course,
essentially to avoid dying. Currently, I have
done 23 marathons and have been focusing upon
ultras lately. With my first 100 -mile race this
summer, my goal is simply to get better. faster
in road races, stronger and faster in ultras,
to time qualify for road races, to complete some
of the most challenging ultra courses, and to
travel the world competing. Other activities
I love, biking, but do not have much opportunity
to do so, especially when in full running training
mode. I'm a pilot and love flying. recreationally
selling basically all of the hobbies which are
expensive thank you dave for sharing your story
i'm sure that many runners in the community have
the same experiences as you as far as not being
able to participate in their hobbies because
let's be honest here running takes up so much
of your time everybody's like ah i can't wait
for the weekend Nah, player, the weekend is long
run time. So definitely understand where you're
coming from from that standpoint. Also, good
luck on that 100 mile race. I recently tried
to get down with 100 miles and let me put it
to you like this. I had to tap out. So good luck
and I look forward to hearing how that 100 mile
race goes for you. So with that in mind, I want
to shift into today's episode because at the
core of every one of these stories is a single
word, commitment. Not motivation, but commitment.
So yesterday, I had a long run. I woke up and
the temperature showed 21 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's negative six degrees Celsius for those
who use that metric. Anyhow, I said at the end
of my bed, for 30 plus minutes negotiating with
that voice in my head telling me, oh, it's okay
not to go out there and do your run. If you go
out there, you might slip on ice. You go out
there, you might get sick. All those excuses
that we all make so we can be satisfied with
ourselves when we decide not to do something.
Well, that's just not the cloth I'm cut from.
And the reason being isn't because I'm some tough
guy or I'm some mentally tough individual. No,
it's because anytime I have a goal, the first
thing I do is I write that check. After I write
that check, I go and show it to my wife and son,
tell them what it is that I'm trying to do. The
reason being is because those are two people
that I do not want to let down. especially my
son, just for a simple fact that growing up,
my dad wasn't someone that I looked up to and
wasn't someone I was proud of. Me, I've always
been in athletics and stuff, and that's just
not something that my dad was into. So he wasn't
someone that I looked up to. I spent the majority
of my time looking up to Michael Jordan and Bruce
Lee. When I became a father, I made a promise
to myself that I will be a man that my son could
be proud of. And for me, that's leading by example.
Following through on what you say you're going
to do. Each year, millions of people around the
world set New Year's resolutions. And I say 95
% of those goals go untouched. What happens is...
They set a goal. I'm going to get a six pack.
And they've been sitting there watching all these
TV ads and stuff and they're thinking that lady
or that guy, they simply went to the gym and
used that machine and they woke up with a six
pack. And then when they see that it doesn't
work like that, they give up. Instead of starting
habits, don't say, I'm going to go to the gym
to get a six pack. Say, I'm going to go to the
gym to be healthy. You got to have small steps
to get to the big picture. So if you're someone
that's never worked out or never been to a gym,
say, I'm going to commit to going to the gym
three times a week this year. Once you get three
times a week, it becomes a habit. That three
times a week then turns into four. which then
turns into five, which then turns into six. And
by then, you're completely addicted. And by the
time you're addicted, you're going to look in
that mirror and you're going to see a completely
different person. But the problem is, we as a
society have decided that it has to happen right
then, right now. You know, the convenience. I
don't know if you've ever saw that movie WALL
-E, where you got all these people just laying
on their back and and everything's being brought
to them and everything's so convenient. It's
kind of similar to what we got going on now with
Amazon. I swear, I don't even like to go to the
store no more, man. Like, I think it's something
I want. First thing I do is grab my phone and
look and see if it's on Amazon and then order
it because I got Prime and then I get it the
next day most of the time. So it's pretty convenient.
But the point I'm making here is All of this
convenience is making us lazy and weak. I don't
care who you are. If you use these things, myself
included, you're becoming lazier and weaker.
So tie in this culture of convenience and the
fear of going for something and failing, and
we find ourselves in this hamster wheel. spinning,
going nowhere fast. I, myself, last year set
three goals. And guess what? I was batting 0
for 3 last year. Yes, it definitely hurt because
I knew in my heart that I did everything that
I possibly could to reach those goals. But this
is the thing. Failure, without failure, there
is no such thing as success. And I truly feel
like failure is a person's greatest stepping
stones. Yes, it sucks to fail. And yes, it hurts
your ego. But that's no reason to quit or run
from it. If anything, use failure as the roadmap
to your success. There's just no reason to ever
give up on yourself. And another thing is, don't
make excuses. If you fail, It doesn't matter
why. You don't need to go telling everybody and
they mama that, oh, the weather was bad, so I
failed to do this. Or, oh, I had a cramp at mile
19, so I couldn't. That's all irrelevant. You
keep those to yourself. The reason why and the
excuses just doesn't matter. What matters is
you stay committed. You keep the promises that
you made to yourself. It's okay to fail. Everybody
fails at something. That's just the way the cookie
crumbles. But what's not okay is giving in and
quitting or finding reasons not to show up. The
bigger the dream, the bigger the commitment has
to be to make the dream a reality. So we have
two choices here. Stay in our comfort zone and
just exist or step outside our comfort zone and
thrive to be great. Understand this. No two people's
great should or has to be the same. Great for
you could be to quit smoking, and great for the
next person could be to run a four -minute mile.
What's important is doing any and everything
we can to reach our version of great. Thanks
so much for listening. If this episode gave you
even a small push forward, then it did its job.
Keep going, keep committing to what matters to
you, and I'll be back with you soon.