The Reason

I am slowly circling the long-awaited and much-anticipated (well....by me at least) post that will reveal once and for all why, after at least ten years of swearing I would never run a marathon, I've finally decided to give it a shot. This shit is crazy complex and I want to make sure I get it right. Or some reasonable approximation thereof.

When I think about trying to explain why I'm running this race, I always seem to come back to why I run in the first place. Which is really hard to explain. I've tried to have this conversation with so many people and it never seems to go right. I just don't have a nice, tidy, soundbite that sums it all up. I don't run for health or weight loss or to memorialize someone or relax or hear myself think or get away from it all or any of that. When these conversations come up, mostly I'm like, "Um...well, I guess I like it.(?)" and people are generally like, "That's weird." And I'm like, "Yeah...yeah, it kind of is."

Then today I was reading Shut Up And Run (which, if you haven't read, you simply MUST. Unless you're easily offended or grossed out. In that case, you probably shouldn't). In today's post, Beth wrote about 1) a mountain getaway with girlfriends where they discussed taints and 2) supporting an ultra-runner friend through part of an event in her town. A quote from her friend really struck me:

“I ask myself why I do this. I don’t know. All I know is that tomorrow I will know something new about myself I did not know today when I started this.”

I think that's relevant somehow. I think it's in the mix somewhere.