Which One Are You?

 


We have all heard the saying,”…Spring is in the air…”, haven’t we? But as a runner, Fall feels like the season that is the most impactful. Once September hits, that means schools are open. The kids' schedules for Fall sports are now populating the family calendar. Birthday parties, weddings, and back to school nights dominate the agenda. The other thing that starts to become omnipresent is the proliferation of running events.

Of course run clubs operate throughout the summer but when half of the club is on holiday it takes a little bite out of the energy of being in a run club. As we slip back into our routines we get back out on the roads with our running buddies and catch up on all that was done over the summer. Many of us are also on email chains that send reminders that the fictional Back to School 5k is coming up as well as the Halloween Half and the Thanksgiving Day 5k. 

Obviously, there are the Fall Marathons. The New York City Marathon, Chicago, Marine Corps, Wineglass, and Richmond are all happening in short order. Training has happened all summer for these races and as the days become shorter, weather gets cooler, and evening runs feel like night runs, race day inches closer. For me at least, the energy around training coming to a close for so many is palpable. 


Let’s face it. Many of us run throughout the summer for two reasons really. We are either training for a fall race or we cannot live without running. For the latter, there is no need to this journey but for the fall racers, there is this imminent culmination in the journey. You have signed up for this thing. You trained for it in the grueling heat and you no longer have to swipe your calendar six times to see the date. It may be there on the current calendar or next month. When it is all done some will:

  • Never run again
  • Follow the program until it has its final shakeout run
  • Take the winter off
  • Become a maniac and find the next thing

Whether you are A, B, C, or D, something will happen. As the leaves change, so will you. If you are a grizzled old vet then what changes is another season down with how many to go? What other challenges are there for you? For the newly minted marathon and half-marathon finishers, or 5k PR’s, that have no desire to do this again, the training and preparation that happened is now a core memory. Winter running suck for so many. Some of you out there truly enjoyed running this spring, summer, and fall but like Meatloaf said, “… I will do anything for love but I won’t do that…” You will do any type of running but you won’t run in the cold. I get it. Then there are the unavoidably, freshly initiated, wide-eyed, run addicted lunatics that are on race pages everywhere to find a thing to fill what has become a void after completing your event. Welcome to the club.

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