not a runner

Setting the stage

On September 30, 2023, I completed one of the greatest physical feats I have ever put my mind to. 50 miles in one go.

Leading up to any races in the past I was always concerned about:

• Colds – this will ruin my training!
• Injuries – my weaknesses are the worst!
• Commitments – my inability to juggle everything makes me a bad human, etc.

But, I have put a lot of work into changing my internal dialog. It has been an immense undertaking and has fundamentally changed who I am in all aspects of my life. I’m by no means a pro at this, but my thoughts have changed dramatically and I can see it in how my brain frames how I confront the above list. Let’s look again:

• Colds – unscheduled downtime that I needed anyway
• Injuries – room for improvement, but not a sign of inadequacy
• Commitments – no one is perfect and that is what makes us beautiful humans

Importantly, this makes me a much more empathetic person. If you see injury as weakness in yourself, you see that as weakness in others too (a totally unfair assumption). Part of changing the internal dialog has been changing how I speak to others, especially runners.

I’ve replaced a lot of my questions with questions that are more in line with what I am asking myself internally

• What was your time? 👉 Did you have fun?
• Did you get a PR? 👉 Did you enjoy yourself?
• How did you get injured? 👉 Are you taking it easy? 

It’s simple and effective. By changing your questions to others, you are also telling yourself that it’s okay to be injured / tired / sick / slow

Most of the people I know are not professional runners, nor do they aspire to be. They, myself included, just want to do our best and enjoy the process. 

The world puts so much emphasis on the outcome that people forget about the process. And racing is exactly that: a process. The race is only a small part of that. I’ve spent hundreds thousands of hours training for a race that is a handful of hours: a blip in the scheme of things.

Which leads to today’s topic: downtime

We all have a tendency to crop our lives [even a little] to the ideal that we think the audience would approve of

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I am am not training for anything
SAY it AGAIN FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK: I am not training for anything

In the past I cared a lot about what people thought; so much so that I deleted Strava for an extended amount of time. No on really cares, but in my head I thought people cared more than they actually did. 

While the people who love me certainly don’t care, I think we all have a tendency to crop our lives [even a little] to the ideal that we think the audience would approve of.

This is dangerous ⚠️

I am not you, 
You are not me. 

Cropping can manifest itself in a few ways, but the most dangerous ways are in: pushing too hard through injury; losing sight of YOUR own goals; etc

After running the 50 miler and feeling all of the love on the course, I have been hyper aware of how that love should manifest itself after a race. The urge to do more, hustle, is pervasive in American society. And even more so on Strava or other similar platforms.

I’ve been running, but on my terms

I forgive myself for that downtime, as I forgive others for their downtime

If you take the questions I talked about in the first half of this and make them about downtime, you are on the right track:

• What was your time? 👉 Did you have fun? 
  • How much are you running? 👉 Are you taking it easy?
• Did you get a PR? 👉 Did you enjoy yourself?
  • Are you getting ready to train? 👉 What are you doing to unwind?
• How did you get injured? 👉 Are you taking it easy? 
  • Are you injured? 👉Are you doing anything to recover?

By reframing, you are not passing judgement. A simple reframe of your questions to others will slowly change how you perceive yourself. Allow yourself to have downtime. Downtime is just as much about training as racking up miles is.

It is your opportunity to heal and give yourself the grace that you may have been missing when you are in the depths of training. 

Enjoy it.

Forgive yourself.

Love yourself.

And if it’s too hard, I got you. 
I’m here for you.

Downtime is just as much about training as racking up miles is.