My 11th Running Anniversary

Reflections, Appreciations, and Lessons Learned

Exactly 11 years ago today, I started running. Nothing spectacular happened on that particular day. I squeezed into my too-small running shoes, put on a pair of basketball shorts, and forced myself to run 3 (definitely not more) extremely grueling kilometers. I had no idea the impact that day would have on my life.

(My first-ever running shoe., probably an Asics Gel Nimbus. And a baby cat named Toto)

The tradition of using my running anniversary to look back on the last 12 months has become an integral part of my running life. We rush through our (running) lives at an incredible speed and are not even aware of what is actually happening. Many of the wonderful and painful experiences we have pass us by and are no longer noticed after a few days or weeks. That's a shame because in the end all we have left are those experiences. When I write them down, it's almost like taking an old gray painting and giving it a fresh coat of paint and making it shine again.

The second reason I love this kind of reflection is that when I look back, I see many connections that I was not aware of before. I firmly believe that everything is connected to everything else. It is only when we take a step back that we see how.

If you are interested in my running anniversary reflections from the past few years, some of them have made it to Substack:

My 10th Running Anniversary

9th Running Anniversary

8th Running Anniversary

(Belated) 7th Running Anniversary

But let's not beat around the bush. Here are my reflections on my last year of running, in a slightly particular order.

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Becoming a Book Author

Runhundred is out now!

One of the biggest running highlights of the last 12 months, maybe ever, is not a running highlight at all: I published my first book. Well, it's a book about a running adventure, so we'll let that slide.

Runhundred changed a lot for me. Notwithstanding the fact that it was a very challenging and exciting project in itself, my writing has become much more professional while writing this book. I don't mean the number of people who read my stuff or how much I get paid, but rather the way I approach writing. I have learned to stop writing "about something" and start writing "for someone". The depth of reflection and the honesty of my writing remain the same. But how understandable, engaging, or accessible it is does.

Runhundred has taught me a lot about myself as a person and as a writer. I'm really looking forward to my next book projects and what they will do to me.

Marathon Achievement

Fearless Flow

For at least half of my running life, I have been chasing a dangling carrot. Running a marathon in under 3 hours. The seriousness with which I have pursued this goal has varied greatly. From "all in" to "it would be wonderful, but I don't feel like doing anything to make it happen". Of course, it happened when I least expected it. On an acre in Rodgau.

The Marathon: “Today.“
Me: “Today??“
The Marathon: “Today.“
Me: “Ok.“

The place and manner in which the sub-3 marathon entered my life could not have been more perfect. Thinking back still makes my heart light up.

The great significance that this constructed number had for me as a runner for years has long since faded. But the magical run in Rodgau, on Hallowed Ground, will remain forever.

Reconnecting with the Mountains

[+] Relationship Deep Talk with the Mountain

Most of my past 12 months of running have been dominated by road marathons. This was intentional and felt good and right. However, at some point, I literally had enough (I'll tell you how much "enough" I had in another Das Z Letter soon) and longed for something different.

Fortunately, the mountain had been patiently waiting for me (or was it the other way around?) and even though the transition from road to trail was a bit bumpy, I immediately felt welcome and in good hands. I developed a whole new relationship with the mountain and was full of anticipation for what it had in store for us.

Unfortunately, this bond did not last long.

Injury is what you make of it

That's it for Running.

It was not planned at all, but shortly after my return to the mountains I apparently tore my inner meniscus. With the benefit of hindsight, I can say with certainty that after months of hard marathon training, it was not particularly clever to go straight to the trails without a breather and at the same time start training on the track in order to set a new 3000m and 5000m PB.

Well, lesson learned. That's what they say, right? And in the end, running is just that. Learning lessons. Over and over again.

That's why I'm at peace with my unplanned break from running. So much so that it surprises me sometimes. Of course, running is the best thing in the world and there's nothing that compares to it. But I'm not crying myself to sleep over my injury.

Something deep inside me tells me that it was good to take a break. Of course, it would have been nice(r) if I could have understood that without tearing my meniscus, but the result is the same in the end.

I will be reflecting a bit more on my involuntary break and what it is doing to me soon. For now, I'm just glad it's not making me unhappy. Of course, I'm still working hard on my comeback as a runner. And on my cycling career.

What Now?

Thank you for joining me on this brief journey through the last 12 months of my 11 years of running. It makes me wonder whether 11 years is a long or a short time for a runner.

On the one hand, I feel like I'm sitting securely in the saddle and already know exactly what I'm doing when I lace up my shoes or sign up for a race. On the other hand, I'm always surprised at how much I don't know and how much I can't do.

But that's probably not the point, because the goal, that is, where the journey is going, is something else: running into old age. Or in the words of a famous Willpower collection: Run Till Death.

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Everything Not Running

On the value of the written word

Most people realized from the beginning that AI was going to change everything. This is especially true for writing. Of course, I have experimented with AI. With ChatGPT and other tools, many types of text can be generated quickly with a few clicks or a reasonably thought-out prompt. However smooth, fluent, and error-free the sentences ChatGPT spits out may be, they are above all one thing: soulless.

Sentences are not ends in themselves. The value of a text is always measured by what it can do to the reader. Although we are all emotionally fairly similar, there is no universal formula that will evoke the same reaction in all readers. Or any reaction at all.

It's a bit like the way we perceive music. A song can be perfectly written, with the right harmonies, the perfect length - no part too many, none too few - brilliantly orchestrated and produced, and performed with great authenticity by an artist. If it doesn't touch us or move us, it's just noise.

ChatGPT doesn't know what emotions are, when they occur, or how to recognize them. A writer does. And that's because he experiences those emotions himself while writing. A text that does something to you while you're writing it will also do something to its readers. Maybe not always the same feelings, maybe not always with the same intensity, but in one way or another it will definitely touch someone's heart and soul.

That is the true value of human-written sentences. And no AI in the world can do that.