Comfortable

Hey, hey! It’s been quite awhile since I’ve blogged here. Between writing weekly Race Pace Run Club assignments and blogging for Women’s Running, I’ve felt like I didn’t have the energy to come up with content for this space. I’m not sure how often I’ll drop in, but I’m back for today.

I’ve been thinking a lot about turning 40, what that means and how I feel about it, but this week the word “comfort” has been at the forefront of my mind.

Running provides me with comfort. It’s probably why I fell head over heels in love with running at the fragile/angry age of 13.

Running comforts me when I’m angry, sad, lonely and pissed off. I am comfortable with the discomforts of running. I know I can handle the pain and nausea of a 5k. I know how much it hurts my lungs to breathe in cold air while doing repeats into 22 mph winds in the winter. I know the discomforts of blisters, chaffing, hamstring pain, falling down, digging deep and not giving up no matter how much my body wants to quit. These discomforts give me comfort.

What I’m discovering is that I need to be less comfortable. I need to spend less time focused on running and more time away from all the comfort it provides me. I need to put more energy into doing the unexpected workouts and things that make me feel unnerved and unsure so that I can expand my horizons and become a better runner.

It always circles back to being a better runner and hoping that through running I’ll be a better person. I’ll always have a long way to go, but I do believe that I am better at most things in life because I am a runner.