Obsessed Runner Blog
2023.09.26 - Post Run Depression
With weekends like Run Woodstock and Dances With Dirt Hell behind us, especially those you who have focused for a year on these goals, it’s not unusual to be feeling low. That said, many of you still have your goal race coming, with the big fall marathons, half marathons, whatever. You will soon be in the same predicament, facing a void where focus once filled. To all of us in this ditch, may I suggest we think back to all the training and mental energy we used to get to these starting lines and to take pride in our commitment, regardless if the result was a personal best or a DNF, we did the work and had the courage to start. It’s up to us to savor the experience, every step, every thought. The race itself is just a piece of what we miss on these post event days, it’s so much more. You all deserve, or will deserve, a period of proud reflection of the entire experience. Enjoy some well-deserved rest, perhaps some days off, not just from running, but from the mental focus and single mindedness. Only you can give this gift of pride to yourself, nobody else can do this, only you know how amazing you are! You had the courage to embark upon this difficult journey, savor it.
Run proud, rest proud,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who still lays back some days to think through the miles of my races long past, something only we who have ran them, can understand and continue to enjoy.
2023.09.20 - A.I. will never run for you
The run is always hard, always worth it. This is the reason we run. In a world where everything else we do, we look for ways to make it easier and more efficient. On the other hand, the value of our run comes from its difficulty and the personal satisfaction we get from hard miles. For that reason, some days we set out to find more difficult routes, or even do hill repeats and extra hard intervals, proving the point. The run teaches us that doing hard things, perhaps the hard way, gives meaning to life and may be the only way to truly feel or be fulfilled.
Get out the door, the meaning of life is there to find,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who lives for the struggle.
2023.09.15 - Home Run
When it comes to the daily run, you can’t beat the loop from home. The familiar miles are easy on the mind and body. Yes, our runs can take us all over the world and new roads and trails make for adventure, but there is a place for the loop we call our own that give us a feeling of safety, stability, and ownership. Watching the trees change color in fall, the same trees we watched as they launched their first green haze of buds in the spring is like running with old friends. As we round the corner for home, the front door makes for the perfect finish line.
Peace, love and running,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who struggled through my home loop today, thankful that the route, in some strange way, seemed to cheer me on.