Time was on my mind this morning as my alarm went off at 4:30AM, and I headed out the door around 5:15AM to squeeze in a long-ish run before heading to work. Anyone who runs longer distances knows that the training and travel amount to a major time commitment, and often pull you away from other opportunities. I absolutely love the running and races, and am lucky enough to have a partner who is far more supportive of my crazy adventures than I deserve. That being said, I’m still reminded that distance running is inherently a selfish sport, and the guilt creeps in fairly regularly. It was nice to read this piece from Andy Jones-Wilkins articulating just that fact and putting things in perspective.
Chasing42 Log: 20160116
Run: I decided to stick pretty close to home and opted for several hours of hill repeats on a nearby hill. The beauty of being out before dark is that you often have the road to yourself, and that was definitely the case for me for the better part of the morning.
Thought: We hear talk of finding “balance” pretty regularly, and it can seem difficult to fit into a training schedule for various ultra events. However, I’ve always been rather skeptical of the whole notion of balance equating to success or happiness. It seems rather arbitrary that we should only spend a set number of hours on any particular activity in our lives. On the contrary, if you thoroughly enjoy something, no matter what it is, why wouldn’t you try and spend as much time doing that thing as you can? Folks often suggest that such “selfish” actions might alienate those around you, or put people off, but wouldn’t you be happier by surrounding yourself with people who support your passions and/or share them? The balance that the self-help industry tells us we should be seeking is a myth. Find those things that make you happy and schedule your life around them. There will always be necessary evils that must be accomplished, but they should never dictate when and if we do the things we love!