Motivation

Moses Tanui

I was sitting around feeling a bit sorry for myself today. Last week I was pushing hard in China fixing shoes, making friends and just trying to keep pace. It's impossible to sleep soundly when you travel that far for that short of time. So knowing this I kept my promise to myself to do something physically each day. Today though I was struggling. Friday I swam in Guangzhou, Saturday after very little sleep I ran and then got on a plane for 24 hours of travel home. Sunday I fell asleep on the beach. Today I flew to Chicago and at 5:00 it was time to run. I couldn't get my butt out. That is until I read the blog by my friend Craig. Craig is at times very funny and is just as passionate about running product as I am. His story brought back memories that got me out the door and carried me through my run.

In 2001 not long after that dual on the track in Sydney I was in Eldoret Kenya. I got the opportunity to meet and talk to two legends of distance running. The first was Paul Tergat. The topic of Craigs post. Tergat is a small unassuming runner. Humble as they come. I met him at the Military Cross Country Championships. It was like Walter Payton showing up. Everyone wanted to touch Paul. He was humble and gracious in every way.

The very next day I met Moses Tanui. Moses is the legend of legends. If you ask Paul who he looked up to it's probably Moses. Moses won the 10,000 meters at the World Championships in 1991. He won the 1995 World Marathon Championships, the 1996 and 1998 Boston Marathon. He's the first runner under 60 minutes in the 1/2 marathon. Just one of those makes you a legend. All of them makes you the legend of legends. Moses was as humble and gracious as Paul. He invited us into his house and fed us a monumental lunch. We talked running, Kenyan runners, Boston and just about everything else. He held a conversation like a professional. When I work with Athletes today. I get to work with lots of them, I think back to this one week. I don't think anything will surpass this one week and these two athletes.

I smiled the entire run today.

It's a good life...

Dave