Runners are not the only creatures of habit, but I guess we have our share. It starts out innocently enough, holding on to every pair of shoes we have ever worn because we ran our best time in those shoes; holding on to every tee-shirt so that we can also hold onto the memory of a certain race or place we ran; hoarding finishers medals and other awards as if they were the national treasure.

We may also create and hold onto habits that affect our very being as a runner or athlete. Certain things that define our lifestyle might also be described as habits. For me, I discovered a simple phrase, thought to be a Kenyan philosophy, but I also can relate to one that is believed to be of Greek origin.

There is no denying that the Kenyan runners have dominated many of the major marathons over the past 20 years. There also is no way one could deny that the marathon got its start in Greece. Therefore I decided to incorporate both into a simple, yet effective part of the way I desired to live. The first came from the Greeks and I had read it numerous times, but never really gave it a whole lot of thought, until one day it clicked. Running did that to me on my birthday in 1980; it opened my eyes to what running could mean to my longevity as a human being.

With a grandmother who lived to be 105, many uncles and aunts who lived well past 90, I assumed they had to have done something to contribute to that longevity. It also may have just been genetically passed on to them. Whichever it was, I decided it could do no harm to try and do everything possible to insure that life was extended as far as possible, in a healthful and youthful way.

“To die young, as late in life as possible” were the Greek words I would try to live by and to do the things necessary would mean changing some of my habits and create new habits. While practicing these changes, such as avoiding alcohol, limiting meat, getting regular exercise, enough rest and others, I came across the Kenyan philosophy. It was simple and profound, yet had deep meaning in my life and making lifestyle choices. It said, “Know thyself, be thyself, deny thyself and be humble.” Not a lot of words to base one’s life on, but enough to form an outline to lead towards obtaining the Greek ideal I had espoused.

Knowing thyself, seemed easy enough to follow, but when one really looks deep, there is more to knowing thyself than we realize. Being thyself, I thought would be easy to practice, after all who else would I be? That one created lots of searching, as much as getting to know myself had. What should I deny myself? For me it meant taking away things that I thought offered no benefit to me. Some were food choices and others were eliminating things I enjoyed, so that I might succeed at loftier goals. Many times I would choose not to race in a favorite race in order to perform at my best in another race I deemed more important. Being humble, I found, was the most difficult of the four. Once I reached a certain level of success I became uncomfortable with that and had to learn to handle whatever came along. It seemed as if I had a public side and a private side, but that worked for me.

I also learned, recently, that we cannot be too rigid with ourselves. At times, we have to lighten up a bit and let it all go. I went to a planned, six-course dinner with drinks, with a friend and ate and drank what ever was brought out. In the middle of the night I woke up in a sweat, head pounding, heart heaving and unable to go back to sleep for several hours. I took the “lighten up” from my choice of favorite socks, Wigwam’s Ironman Lightning Pro Quarter. Going a little lighter sometimes feels so much better, both in sock choices and lifestyle choices.