Obsessed Runner Blog
2024.03.19 - Great runs can be a given
... it is said happiness is a choice. Could it also be true that how we feel about a run is a choice, maybe even the way we feel during the run? In the late miles of a marathon, I often imagine that there is a hook, grabbing the back of my shorts, lifting me and pushing me forward. I force myself to smile, and somehow it works! The smile becomes real and the effort is less. On some level it works, usually not for long, but for sure something magic happens, so I repeat this mantra until the finish line comes.
Let's choose to enjoy every minute of today's run! Dig it!
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who used to think we had to accept the run for what it is, and now, like so much in life, it can be a choice.
2024.03.07 - Running is hard
Running is never easy, but always worth it in the end. During today’s painful struggle, with every part of my body from my stomach to my brain trying to stop me, the always worth it part occurred as it often does, when I finally stopped. So, now miles have been faithfully recorded as seems necessary for a day to feel complete. Yes, the day requires much more than just the run to be fulfilling in a busy life of work, family and to-do lists but once the run has been checked off, especially when the run was a hard one, we know we have what it takes to get it all done. Heck our run just proved we are amazing, well, at least to us!
Go do the hard stuff,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who had to get to the end of today’s miserable but perfect run, to make this email possible.
2024.02.28 - Running into the ages
Fortunately, our sport ages well. From age 20 to 40, we can improve our times and as the Olympic trial’s marathon shows us, some world class runners over 40 can still run world class times. But yes, we slow with age at some point. Fortunately, our sport is mostly personal, we run for the love of the run and all it gives us. Now in my 60’s, I’ve seen my marathon times start with a 2, then 3, then 4 and now even a 5. That said, the mental and physical work I put in has not changed. What was a hard run at 6 minutes per mile may now be a hard run at 9 or 10 minutes per mile, but if I didn’t look at a watch, I would not have know the difference. Cool stuff, I can assure you. As I said, the satisfaction is personal, and the love for the run goes unchanged.
Run forever,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, and will be until they throw the dirt on … Even if we can no longer run, we will be forever, runners. Dig it.