Meditation and exercise or meditation as exercise

My morning meditator has taken up running, she is going to run the marathon and she is so disciplined. This is interesting because discipline is the key to both things.  You wouldn't do any discipline if you didn't think that discipline wasn't going to produce some result would you?  But if you thought that you could turn into Usain Bolt or Jessica Ennis and that was your aim, you would go to all that discomfort of running through the dark rainy streets, you would buy into the required lycra leggings and very expensive shoes and you would be determined.  So, if you really thought that meditation was going to produce a desired result, and that all that was required of you was to sit for half an hour twice a day and bring your mind to a still point and there was no mud or rain or lycra, just a half hour sitting, wouldn't you do that?

So, what are the benefits of both; first, you come out of your comfort zone and find that you can accomplish far more than you had thought.  Second, you develop concentration.  Running certainly makes for a fit body but I think that meditation makes you look younger.  Certainly judging by the 85+ group I have met, they look terrific.  The difference though is in the stopping which meditation brings.  Everything about running is movement, getting from a to b, running so many miles in a particular time and that is fine.  Meditation should help to discover the dimension which isn't going anywhere, is just what it is, ever the same and peaceful.  It just requires you to switch off your forward moving button and simply stop.  These three ladies have meditated for over 40 years each, so 30 minutes twice a day for 40 years is 365 x 60 x 40 and that adds up to 876000 minutes.  You could perhaps knock off 6000 of those minutes for days when it wasn't possible.  They look good don't they?