For a long time, I’ve been a runner. I’d run every day. Sometimes I’d run twice. And when I didn’t run, I spent my time thinking about how to become a faster runner. Although I, by any objective measure, wasn’t very good at it, it was who I was.
When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go, you know, I went.
Forrest Gump
Although I had reasons, at the end of the day I ran because I liked it. It is such a simple thing. You just put on your shoes, go out and do it. And you know that each time you go out and do the work, you become a little faster. You never regret a run.
I just felt like running.
Forrest Gump
So I became a guy who ran. More than that, I was a guy who thought about running, read about running and listened to podcasts about running. I talked about running and I wrote about running. It was who I was.
Until a couple of months ago. Just like Forrest Gump, I knew that my running days were over. No chronic injuries or fatal conditions triggered by my running. I just reached the end of the road.
I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.
Forrest Gump
With the world at my feet, and infinite time to spare after retiring from running, what do I do now?
Time to start blogging.
Running gave me a lot. At times it made me feel like there’s nothing out there I couldn’t do. As if whatever I wanted to accomplish, I could do it if I just put my mind to it. But more importantly, it taught me that nothing happens overnight. Every journey starts with a first step, and continues with the next.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. But I’ve always put it off. There’s always been something that’s not quite right for me to start pursuing writing.
“I haven’t quite nailed down exactly what I want to write about just yet.”
“Once I’ve read these thirty books on how to write I’ll be ready to go.”
“I need to get a degree in journalism first, then I’ll become a proper writer and can start writing proper things.”
You don’t go to school and pursue a degree to become a runner. You just go for a run today. And instead of obsessing about trying to learn the theory behind the perfect biomechanics of running, you go run again tomorrow.
So now I blog.
I honestly have no idea where I will go with this thing. And that’s the point. The idea is to just write, and then, eventually — maybe (hopefully) — I’ll one day become a writer.