To RUNNING that is! Get your mind out of the gutter! In all seriousness, I do have a very addictive personality like many Type A’s do. Someone told me once it was genetic, but they’re also blaming obesity on genetics and I don’t believe that for 2 seconds! So, here I am on this earth learning how to deal with it. In my life fortunately I have 2 things going for me. 1) I have managed to mostly choose positive things in which to be addicted over the years. 🙂 2) I get bored easily.
The main reason for this post is to get you thinking about what you’re addicted to. Is it healthy or unhealthy? Does it take valuable time away from your loved ones? Is there a point of diminishing returns? Is it conflicting with your values or vision for your life?
I bring up these questions because it’s what I’m thinking about running. I started running in 2009 (of course I ran in Triathlon before that, but it’s just different.) Actually, I started with the Cowtown 10K that year. Want to know something really funny? When I was looking back at the results, Logan Sherman won the 10K that year; this year, he won the ultra setting a course record. Truly amazing. My 10K time was 53:33 that year. I’ll do that math for you. That’s an 8:56 pace. This year’s ½ marathon was a 7:25 pace. It took me several years to get faster….almost 3 years to be exact before I qualified for Boston the first time. After the first BQ, I found myself excited thinking, “I wonder if I could break 3:30?” “I wonder if I could get top 3 in my Age Group in a big race.” I had won my Age Group in smaller races and it felt good! “I ran a marathon last weekend and was still able to get 8th in Age Group, I wonder what would happen if I was rested?” It was this type of thinking that got me signing up for ultras!
There’s been a strange phenomenon that happened to my thinking and my body over the last 6 months training for ultras. Some of you will look at it as good. But, for me, it goes back to addiction. Since my marathon in October 2012, Steamtown, running has been easy for me. It’s not hard to do at all. I keep putting in the time, taking care of my body, getting massage, following the schedule my coach gave me and it’s working. It’s not hard to run 20 miles; it’s just time. It’s not even hard to run 20 miles one day and 18 the next day. I sort of even actually feel like I’m a real “runner.” Which is saying A LOT considering the very accomplished runners I’m around all of the time!
So this is it for me. Same as triathlon in 2006 after Ironman. After Boston this year, running will become just a form of exercise or cross training again. I feel great about what I was able to accomplish with running in the last several years (God willing I cross the finish line this weekend!) 🙂 Onto my next addiction…MTB, rock climbing and a black belt.
Cross Timbers Marathon
