From a pair of worn running shoes, we can see our respective tracks

发布时间：2026-01-26 21:39

That evening I walked around to the old stadium on the edge of the city. I originally just wanted to jog three times on the plastic track to find an outlet from the long day of meetings and blue light from the screen. The winter wind is like a piece of tissue paper, blowing across the face, and the light stretches everyone's shadow. There were scattered people sitting in the stands, as if waiting for a performance that was not sure to happen.

I stopped first at the stall at the entrance. The stall owner displayed a few pairs of old running shoes, a few mismatched medals, and a training diary with the corners rolled up. The most eye-catching thing was a pair of shoes: the tongues were worn white, there was a seam on the outside, and the lines on the soles were almost smoothed out. The stall owner said it was left by "someone who came back to hold a sharing party." I didn’t ask who it was—in a place like this, names tend to block people out of the story.

The sharing meeting was very simple, just in the open space on the inner circle of the track. The "man whom everyone calls the star" wore an ordinary sports coat and held an old kettle. His smile did not look stagey, but looked like the neighbor's uncle who had just finished a run. The first sentence he spoke was not about winning the championship or setting a record, but: the hardest thing about training is not the pain, but "it's the same every day."

Suddenly I thought of those running shoes. A person is often called a "star" because of a certain moment: crossing the line, raising hands, tears, national anthem, flashing lights. But that pair of shoes records not a moment, but a long period of wear and tear - the torn cloth on the toes, the rough edges on the ankles, and the salt stains left by the rain and sun. It seems to remind me: the so-called light is mostly born from repeated friction.

Someone asked him at the scene: What was your most confident moment on the court? He thought about it and said that it was not the moment he stood on the starting line, but the time before he set the alarm clock, folded the clothes, and wrote down what he wanted to do the next day on paper. At that moment, he knew that no matter what the outcome, he would not escape.

Hearing this, my heart moved. We always misunderstand "confidence" as an emotion - like passion, excitement, and the need to be full of energy. But the self-confidence he described is more like a kind of order: I put what I need to do first and my emotions behind; I allow myself to be nervous, but I don’t allow myself to be absent.

After the sharing session, the crowd dispersed, some went to take photos, and some went to ask for autographs. The "star" was not dragged away by the excitement. Instead, he squatted on the edge of the track and tightened his shoelaces carefully. I saw a small knot at the end of his shoelaces. The knot was very low-key, as if to prevent it from being torn apart by the wind. That action was so commonplace that it made me feel a little dazed: It turns out that the height we looked up at was also a pair of hands, a shoelace, and a bend when we fell back to the ground.

I started running slowly around the track. My breathing was still messy during the first lap, my legs started to feel heavy during the second lap, and I almost wanted to stop walking during the third lap. At that moment, I thought of what he just said, "Every day is the same." Not grand words, but a kind of gentle cruelty: if you want a better version of yourself, you have to accept more repetitive versions of yourself.

I suddenly understood that the reason why sports stars are so moving is not just that they are faster, stronger, and more accurate than us, but that they have experienced "what ordinary people will encounter" - fatigue, doubt, loneliness, boredom - under a higher standard. They did not escape from life, but made life even harder.

We have similar starting lines on our respective circuits. Some people continue to write plans after putting their children to sleep at four in the morning, some people practice piano in a cramped rental house until their fingertips are numb, and some people still iron their shirts after failed interviews. It’s just that we don’t call them “stars,” we call them “support.”

But "hold on" is not inferior to "shine". The sparkle is a momentary spark, and the support is a long torch. What is truly awe-inspiring is not the few minutes on the podium, but the days outside the podium when no one applauds: you still take care of your body, your rhythm, and yourself to not be easily defeated.

After the fourth lap, I stopped to walk a bit and looked up at the stadium lights. There are tiny flying insects spinning in the light, like countless tiny efforts making circles in the air. The number of people in the stands gradually decreased, the wind became colder, but I felt hotter in my chest. That "star" has long since left, but what he left behind was not a piece of chicken soup-like encouragement, but a more practical reminder: the light you want may be hidden in that little thing you don't want to repeat.

On the way home I thought about my old running shoes again. It's not beautiful, it's not expensive, and it's even a bit embarrassing, but it has an honest beauty: it wears a person's persistence on the surface. Maybe we should all keep a pair of "old running shoes" in our hearts - not to show off, but to remind: when you feel that you are not good enough, don't deny it; you just haven't gone far enough.

We always want to ask: How can we become a better version of ourselves? Maybe the answer is not in a sudden inspiration, but whether you are willing to do one more lap tonight, whether you are willing to set the alarm clock tomorrow morning, and whether you are willing not to run away the next moment you want to give up.

If the so-called "star" means something, I prefer to explain it as: staying awake in the midst of repetition, and still lowering one's head and tying one's shoelaces in the midst of the noise. Light does not only belong to those who are seen, it also belongs to those who finish their days even when there is no one around.

网址：From a pair of worn running shoes, we can see our respective tracks https://mxgxt.com/news/view/1981402

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From a pair of worn running shoes, we can see our respective tracks

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