If you’re any good at all, you know you can be better. And teams make us better.
I’ve been a runner off and on over the course of my life.
Being adopted and fostered left me with a tendency to be a loner. Yes, I could relate to people. I wasn’t only a loner, but deep down, when it came to my personal performance, I always thought of myself as alone.
In elementary school, I got in trouble a lot, probably because I was “acting out,” as they say, desperate to get whatever attention or recognition I could from my peers. As a result, I was always one of the last ones picked to be on the team. I suspect everyone knew that I was not a team player. I was a loner.
So, the sports I chose were loner sports. Cross-country running being my top choice.
But although running is singular, the top distance runners all know that the team is a big part of their success.
Naturally, I didn’t know that. So, although I was a competent runner, one much practiced running away from fights and other dangers as a child, I was never really competitive. Even so, I did continue to run for exercise, off and on, as an adult.
In my sixties, I met David, a neighbor who liked to run in the mornings. And we began running together two or three times a week. Running and chatting. Now, I…
