Is It Still A Runner's Journey?

I don't really know that I want to be called a runner anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love running, and I probably always will. But that tag just feels so limiting now. I've pretty much been a runner first and foremost for quite a few years. Running is what I always wanted to do, and I'd choose running over anything else. I don't feel that way now. I still want to run, but I also want to climb, I want to CrossFit, I want to surf, I want to hike, I want to swim, I want to SUP, I want to do it all. I want to try everything and I want to see every place.

I feel like when I say I'm a runner I am limiting the possibilities. How much do you run? How many miles do you run? How many marathons and ultras can you run in a year? These are the questions I get asked, and these are the questions I ask myself when I place myself in the box of being a runner. These are goals I've always pursued, and these are the goals that have consistently left me unfulfilled. These goals don't challenge me anymore. How many miles can I run? Who cares? Again, I love running. I love marathons. I love ultras. But I no longer want that to define me. I want those things to be something that I do rather than who I am. Nope. I don't want to be defined as a runner, a marathoner, an ultramarathoner anymore. I want to be more. I want my challenges to be larger, scarier, more diverse. I want my world to be bigger.

I want to expand my world rather than limit it. I only want to run one or two marathons and/or ultras a year going forward. I want my time back to attack other things. I want to take part in the CrossFit Games Open, and a CrossFit competition this year. I want to spend time hiking and backpacking. I want to climb. I want to really learn to surf. I want to do a tri (it's been 2 1/2 years since my last one). I want to challenge myself with a GoRuck event. These are all things I won't have time or energy for if I focus on running only.

Maybe this post has no real point, but here it is anyway. Reading it back, it's mostly senseless rambling, but that's my brain right now. There are so many things I want to do and so many different directions I want to go. I just don't really know what 2016 will hold, and that is my favorite thing about 2016 so far. If you suffered through reading this, cheers! Where are your dreams taking you? How do you like to define yourself?

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