Been There. Done That. Shut Up. Pt. II.
Right after I unleashed my running rant „Been There. Done That. Shut Up.“ I came up with more absurdity and arrogance of the ‚Know it All‘-Runner.
Let’s get this straight: If you’re not obese, severely injured or extremely lazy, everyone can train to run a marathon and accomplish this fabulous running goal within let’ say… 2 years. But even more important than calling yourself a marathoner at one point is the hard work, effort and perseverance you invest to get there. Let’s call it ‚The Journey’. It’s one of those life projects that can dramatically change your personality for the good. If you do it for the right reasons. And that’s what separates the wheat from the chaff.
If you want to finish a marathon mostly to impress other people, you can get there really fast (especially, if you treat your body like a piece of shit), celebrate extensively once you cross that finish line and the next morning, when you proudly tell all your co-workers at your shitty job. But when the fog is lifting, nothing remains. Really. Nothing.
Such ‚Running Careers‘ happen quite a lot. And what do people usually do, when the praise and marathon-self-affirmation quickly fades? They restlessly turn towards the next in size running project. After running a marathon it’s obviously an ultra-marathon, which must be the ultimate ego boost. Turns out to be different, but just the same.
In such manner some runners make it from ‚5k with walking breaks‘ to a 100 mile mountain race within 2 years or less. Doing an Iron Man Triathlon along the way, because your co-workers never heard of the Hardrock 100, Western States Endurance Run or UTMB. What remains is another handful of „Been There. Done That.“ stories that no-one cares about in the longrun. Really. No one.
On a personal note: One of the reasons why I am running is because I want to learn, grow and discover. As soon as my desire to try out new stuff, or to do the same stuff but in a different way disappears, I know it’s time to quit. Or as the boss put it once: „Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive“.