The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner (Parentheses Included)

I have never been lonely on a long run - alone often - yet never lonely. It seems to me that long distance running broadens the sense of self to the point where the self itself (bear with me here) becomes irrelevant - or better yet - non-existence. Our sense of self is in actuality illusory - we are concepts bundled within an image that quickly fades under the light of contemplation. Who we think we are involves the ego - who we really are involves only spirit. Running far, running really far, strips us of ego (if only momentarily - yet that freedom lingers, it lingers....) and we find ourselves free of self (it makes sense of you don't think too hard about it) and free of concepts that bind us within ordinary borders. In short we become extra -ordinary. Or better yet (and far more accurate) we become our true Selves - a Self where we find that there is nowhere where we leave off and the world begins there is only the Infinite - and the motion of the run that takes us there. 

Peace,
Eric