It's about connections

If it hadn't been for the podcast that I produce, I am fairly certain that Sandy whom I had a chance to run with yesterday and I would have not crossed paths let alone go for a run. Oh sure, we might be at some of the same races, but that would in no way guarantee that we would have met. As an runner who is up and done before the sun is up on most days, pretty much all my runs are done in solitary. While I enjoy the time to be there out on the road by myself, it is a welcome relief to be able to share the road with a fellow runner. Sharing the road with a fellow runner in my opinion guarantees that the miles will roll by faster.

While I say that my runs are done mostly in solitary that is not to say that I am not connected. One of the best things about social media is that I can bring along podcasts to help pass the time as well as laugh and learn from people all over the world on a myriad of topics. In that respect, I am connected. Likewise, in producing the podcast and this blog, I have been able to connect with runners from around the world in a way that I thought was never possible. Now, with merely a few clicks and words, you can have interaction in seconds through other social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and Daily Mile.

In connecting with Sandy through the podcast and several others that live in the Metro Detroit area, I have begun to expand my once small circle of running friends in the area. Though these connections and others that I have built via the social media avenue, I have found that I have been able to not only enhance my knowledge about running but also have learned so much from them as individuals. These connections based upon a mutual interest have served as springboard to learn from others in a way that I certainly would have not thought of and are even stronger I would argue than some connections we have with people we see on a daily basis. Maybe, Friedrich Nietzsche was onto something when he said, “Invisible threads are the strongest ties”