9th Running Anniversary

Wow, that came as a surprise. My calendar just informed me that it’s my 9th running anniversary today. Each year I take this as an opportunity to quickly reflect on my now 9 year old greatest passion.

When I did these reflections exactly one year ago, I had just begun my preparation for CCC. An epic race that would become my first 100 km ultra. It feels weird, even a bit wrong, that less than one year later I have also finished my first 100 mile race as well. My original plan was to gradually work my way up to what I would call an "experienced ultra runner", before I dare to tackle a 100-miler. I wanted to have at least 2 or 3 more 100ks and maybe even one "easy" 100 mile race under my belt, knowing that running 100 miles is never particularly "easy".  But then the Western States lottery results hit me like a truck and turned my plans upside down. The rest is history.

Even though I managed to finish Western States more or less unharmed and made a life-changing experience along the way for which I will be eternally thankful, I still have Martin Grüning's words ringing in my head:

"Nach dem Western States kommt nicht mehr viel."
("There’s not much left after Western States.").

I understood this as an implicit warning of a "too much too soon" kind of attitude and a gentle reminder that the actual masterplan is to "run for life" and not to "shine brightly, burn out and then fade away" along the way.

I feel this modest and humble attitude towards running very much. I know that it is a great gift to be able to run at all and also to enjoy it so wholeheartedly more often than not. Keeping this gift for a lifetime is worth so much more than the short moment of thrill and glory that a finish line has to offer for a first-timer.

With that being said, I do not strive for any equally big running goals in the near future. I rather want to rediscover the joy of running in micro-achievements such as celebrating a fast 1000m interval or finishing a Sunday longrun strong. There’s so much running has to offer, but I’ll probably keep an eye on the small things for the next couple of months.