The winter anecdotally brings on the blues in a lot of people, and this mega-winter seems to be bringing on the mega-blues. For me, the winter is only partly the sources of the blues. Its mostly that the winter came post-marathon.
In my absence from the blog I haven't shared much about the marathon. Here it is, in short:
My friends are awesome (those that ran with me, and those that supported me along the course).
The weather was undeniably perfect.
My girlfriend probably ran her own marathon chasing me around the city.
My girlfriend probably ran her own marathon chasing me around the city.
My sister, niece and nephew cheered me on with adorableness and big signs.
26.2 miles is long.
26.2 miles is boring.
After 26.2 miles you are pretty tired.
The next day you feel sore.
You may also feel sad.
You may also feel sad.
After years and years of running, and meeting every goal - from that first mile, to those 26.2 in October - finishing the marathon sort of felt like the end of the climb. There is no higher to go. Of course I'm aware that there is, including faster times and longer races, but for a weekend racer, training for the marathon was a massive time commitment that won't easily be achieved again.
After the marathon, I had some trouble getting motivated. The holidays hit, things got busy with work, and getting back on the treadmill for 2 or 3 miles seemed sort of pointless without an end goal.
Running the marathon was supposed to feel awesome - was supposed to feel like a life accomplishment, but really it just reminded me that sometimes the best hobbies or goals are the ones that remain unachieved. The ones that change and evolve and are measured in progress and growth.
As I pull my hat down over my ears and stomp through inches of slush attacking my boots, I start to collect ideas of what's next. To look for a goal that can grow with me. A goal that I can't leave behind like a finish line. In the meantime, I might as well go to the gym - I think better on a run, anyway.
