Welcome to my running brain

I’ve never read a running blog I didn’t like, mostly because they all turn out to have some sort of underlying life lesson. I find it extremely easy to relate to others’ running experiences, even when they are polar opposites to my own. As we all share our race reports, goals and aspirations, training tactics, trail adventures, successes and struggles, we are building and contributing to the running community and, I hope, encouraging others to join in.

Over the last year, I’ve found myself naturally connecting with more and more people in the trail and road running community in Alberta, and even beyond. Through Strava, Meetup and Instagram I’ve come to feel like I know people within this community. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people in person for unforgettable adventures, simply because we connected through one of these platforms, and someone reached out to say “hey, I like running, I noticed you also like running, let’s go running!?”. I met up with the Girls Breaking Trails in Jasper, did the Rockwall Trail with Hailey and Brice, Wasootch Peak with Joanna and Colin, Mt Allan Traverse with Annie, met Cyndy and Gary through Calgary Trail Runners (and also ran into them coincidentally at three races this year!) and joined the Dirtbag Runners Bow Valley edition in Canmore; too many awesome humans to list. My belief in what I am capable of is expanding rapidly because of these people and the adventures I have been included in. Runners in this community are so easy to connect with and encouraging of others to join the sport and the lifestyle, I want to make sure I am sending out those vibes too.

There are a few reasons why I wanted to start bloggin’, focusing on my running antics.

First of all, I have a solid lineup of ambitious and exciting running-related goals and races for the foreseeable future, and I want to document and share them. I like the aspect of accountability that comes with sharing them with other runners, friends and family. I am always fascinated by, and somehow get invested in the goals that I see other runners strive for, so I want to share mine too.

Second of all, people sometimes say things to me like “I could never do that!”, “I am so lazy compared to you!”, “seeing how much you run makes me feel so bad!”. Um, what? That’s definitely not what I’m going for. I am not perfect, I am not the fastest, I can’t run the furthest. There are so many people that run faster, further, higher and exhibit levels of badassery beyond what I typically strive for. I am actually not really special at all. What I want, is to share my experiences and make others believe that they can go after the exact same thing, that they can find something in their life that makes them push themselves beyond their comfort zones and that allows them to grow. There is a high likelihood that that thing might not have anything to do with running. I know a lot of people who hate running with a fiery burning passion of fiery flames. That’s okay, maybe they climb, hike, skate, ski, snowboard, bike, dance, lift weights WHATEVER it is.

This year I will start training for my first 100 miler. I will also try to set personal best times for every distance from 5km to a marathon, you can read more about my goals here. I did not roll out of bed one morning and magically have the ability to start where I am today. I find myself where I am now because I started with small goals, eventually achieved them, got curious and then wondered if I could go further, if I could go faster. I have no doubt that someone that has never run a 5km race before would feel the exact same rush, sense of accomplishment, and self-questioning thoughts of “I wonder what else I could do” as I will when I finally qualify for Boston or find a new distance that I had never covered before. I know this because I’ve felt this rush, this pure joy hundreds of times, through every baby step taken. When I see the crazy shit that other runners do and the progress they make, it drives me, it pushes me and it inspires me to believe that I can do it to; and maybe that means I can encourage someone else in that same way.

Thirdly, one of the reasons I have really begun to enjoy ultra and longer distance running, is because YOU CAN SEE SO MUCH. If you have the fitness to cover long distances, and quickly, you really expand upon what you can see, where you can go and what you can do in limited time frames. Unfortunately, I am adulting and working an 8-5, Monday-Friday style job so I like to make the most of my weekends and evenings. Most of the new trails, mountains or races I do are a result of someone else doing it and sharing their photos/summary. Since I do a lot on my own (sorry mom), it’s great to have read a description of the trail, have an idea of how long it took, how to prepare, etc. So I’d like to contribute to trail-running internet land in this capacity too.

And finally, most of the photos I post are striking mountain views from the trail, me smiling after a race, or a moment of strength while on the run. That’s all fun and games and I really enjoy sharing those with people, but I also want to be open about when things aren’t that easy for me and how I deal with it.

Thanks for reading! Excited to see and share what I get up to in 2017, #runningtherockies.