100 Days to the Madison Mini

The last time I ran was on the audaciously early morning of the first day of February — it’s almost May.

It was a race that satisfyingly closed an era of my running journey — one time-stamped by bucket list races and a constantly moving target of proving my worth to myself. 

I ran across that finish line feeling fulfilled, aligned, and whole (which are maybe just all synonyms for each other).

This race also triggered a period of pause, rest, stillness, and pulling myself out of a race I’ve done for the last four years so that I could JUST STOP TRAINING.

I knew a new era of running would arrive when the time was right.
And it has …
One that is focused less on achieving and more on feeling. 

Movement was never meant to be about metrics and measurements.
We humans just have a real habit of mucking things up with our categories, data, and rules of success.

And I throw no shade at my running journey thus far:
It turned me into a runner
And then a Mother Runner
And then a Marathoner
And then an Ultramarathoner
And then a Running Coach

But there was something about turning 40 that made me pull back the curtain and realize the committee I never elected wAS really just a bunch of old men feeding us illusions of requirements and rules meant to keep us from experiencing life at full saturation.

Today I registered for the Madison Mini Half Marathon: a race that met me with the highest vibes last year.

But training will look different. 
It will be training focused less on proving, performing, achieving, chasing, collecting, perfecting, hurrying, worrying, and checking boxes 
And more on creating, connecting, feeling, wondering, wandering, slowing, and being messy. 

Let the 100-Day countdown to the Madison Mini begin!