“His brain and body shattered in a horrible accident as a young boy, Bret Dunlap thought just being able to hold down a job, keep an apartment, and survive on his own added up to a good enough life. Then he discovered running.

You know what people think. They see jeans too short and winter coat too shiny, too grimy, and think, homeless. They watch a credit card emerge from those jeans and think, grifter. They behold a frozen grin, hear a string of strangled, tortured pauses, and think, slow. Stupid.

You learned too young about cruelty and pity. You learned too young that explaining yourself didn’t help, that it made things worse. People laughed. Made remarks. Backed away. So you stopped explaining. You got a job, got a cat, got an apartment, and people can think what they want to think. You built a life without explanation and it was enough…”

Read more here.  Long.  But so worth your time.  Having trouble getting off the couch to work out?  Having a tough day?  Week?  Year?  Forgettaboutit.  Inspiring story of the year?  Running away.  Read this man’s story.

SMWI* = Saturday Morning Work-out Inspiration
Source: Runner’s World