Running Saved His Life

I'm recovering well from yesterday's exhausting 54 mile run.  In fact, due to yesterday's heat I did a lot of sweating.  To replenish the sodium my body sweat out, I ate this whole jar of pickles.

Aside from eating a jar of pickles, I wanted to post about an incredible person I met in Davenport this last week.

Scott.

Today's blog post is about how "Running Saved His Life."

Allow me to explain:

Thanks to social media, Scott had been following the Awake My Sole journey on Facebook.  He came across AMS by clicking on it, you know, those little annoying adds on the side of Facebook.  Which is pretty cool, cause he messaged me saying, "I live in Davenport, I run often and would love to run with you, maybe share my story with you."

So, Saturday morning Scott and I met in the parking lot of Redband Coffee Company.  I conveniently scheduled our running to start and stop at Redband, I was going to treat myself to a cup of coffee afterwards.

We ran a little over 5-miles, a loop Scott runs often.  It crosses from Davenport over into Rock Island and back again.  Here is a pic of Scott and I on one of the bridges.




One of the first things I noticed about Scott was all of his tattoos.  In general, tattoos fascinate me, so very quickly I asked "What do your tattoos mean?"

He called them his "sobriety tats."

For a good portion of our run, he willingly shared his story of battling against drugs and alcohol.

He said, "I have a very addictive personality, and I was addicted to some of the wrong things."

He shared some stories of being in jail, how he lied and how he pursued things that weren't healthy for him.

He knew he needed to turn his life around, that his life was going nowhere fast.  So, he started working at a local gym.  It was at the gym where he discovered running.

He quickly fell in love with running.  Almost like his new healthy addiction.

Now, he's sober, and he gets tats to help remind him of his vow of sobriety.  

He mentioned, "Before I heard about your Awake My Sole journey, I was considering running from New York to Iowa."

Maybe he could be the next Awake My Sole runner.

I was hugely inspired by Scott's story, by his determination to stay sober and by his overall love for life.

I asked him, "Can I share your story with others?"

He said "of course."

I also asked him, "Would it be appropriate to say 'Running saved your life?' "

He said, "Along with my faith, Yes, running saved my life."

Treating myself to coffee, reflecting over my run with Scott

It was great meeting Scott, and to see how running has impacted his life in such a good way.  Part of the AMS journey is meeting people, and it was a blessing to meet Scott.

Running with purpose in every step...

Jim