LOOKING AHEAD

Over the weekend I was looking at a bunch of my old blog posts, including race reports and quotes of the day. I reread my Grandma’s Marathon race reports from 2007 and 2009. Both were hot days. I PR’d in 2007 and ran negative splits in 2009. It was kind of cool to go back and look at that stuff.

Some of the QODs were from Dr. George Sheehan where he talks about being a runner, rather than just someone who runs for fitness. John “the penguin” Bingham says “if you run, you are a runner”. Technically, that’s true. But I have to agree with Sheehan, there are differences between the two. Neither is better than the other, they’re just different.

It can be hard to explain the differences, but it seems to make sense when I think about the things I’m not. For example, when I was busy cross-training with P90X, spin classes, roller skis, etc., I enjoyed those activities, but I wouldn’t say I’m a fitness guru or a biker. Heck, I love skiing, but I’m not sure I’d define myself as a skier.

One way I can tell I’m a runner is that even though I may allow my mind to think about other fitness goals while I’m injured, as soon as I’m healthy, they all vanish and are replaced with thoughts of running. Just two weeks ago I was thinking about the ski season and what races I should do. Now that I’m running again, I’m already passed ski season and looking at 2012 road races.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be skiing this winter. It just means the running season won’t be far from my mind.

Quote of the Day;

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.... then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health... and then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” - The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity