I’ve been a runner for a long time now. In fact, I just realized that next month is the 5th anniversary of my very first half marathon. You hear a lot of things all the time as a runner. We have our own vocabulary of encouraging words, mantras and guidelines.

One of my favorites is  . . . .

Run your own race.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Maybe because I just came off a not great race where I was disappointed in my time or maybe because as I get older I’m finding improvements in time and fitness more elusive. Or maybe I just don’t want them as much anymore.

I’ve seriously thought, even this week, about retiring from the longer distance races, focusing instead just on my weekly runs and being fit. You know, like a normal person.

But then I think about the energy in the starting corrals. And all the miles, even during the bad races, where I feel powerful and at peace and happy. And I think about all the amazing men and women I chat with and observe. And the way my body feels when it’s pushed to the brink on an 18 mile training run which, without a race on the calendar, I assure you I would NOT attempt.

I can tweak my running and my training. I can decide each day to go longer or shorter on a run. I can choose to go faster and really push myself or hold back and take it easy.

Without having a meeting or seeking counsel or making sure everybody involved is OK with it.

Running belongs only to me. And to God. And when the two of us are out there together, on the good days and even more significantly on the bad ones, I feel connected to my body and to my maker in a unique way that I’ve never been able to duplicate other than through physical challenge.

So there you go. No retiring. No backing off. Because when I run my own race out there, I seem to do a better job of running my own race in the rest of my life, too. I do less comparing and more reflecting. Less berating myself for what I’m not, and more appreciating what I am. Less whining about what I don’t have. More gratefulness for what I’ve been given.

So I will run my own race. And I will continue to learn and grown and discover. And be grateful that, as my running friends love to say, there will be a day when I can no longer run. But THIS is not that day.

Happy Running.

Jen