New Beginnings

At a job interview a few years ago, I was asked if I considered myself successful. Overpronator immediately came to mind, and I answered with the highlights from my marathon training past. I answered that I felt most successful during my marathon training days. To my mind, I was successful when I checked off each item on my training program and meal plan, and I saw my endurance and speed increase week by week. Crossing the finish line with a new PR was satisfying, but the feeling of success was most present after completing a speed workout or a tempo run after a long day of work.

I marvel at my younger self as recorded by the contents of this blog. As I think of all the workouts and maniacal self-discipline I endured to cross each finish line, I realize that I think of Overpronator as a separate person. I am very proud of her, and I even wish I could be more like her, but I know that I have moved on. I flipped through a book that is part of series called Elf-help (which I found cute), and the following quote explains why I unknowingly decided that I am no longer Overpronator.

If you’re always pushing toward greater success, achievement, control, perfection, and efficiency, you’re overrating greatness – as well as your own human capacities. You’re great because of who you are, not because of what you can do.

I feel sorry for the sad person I was when I began my separation with Overpronator, even though I tried desperately to get back into her mindset and reclaim her body. It took a few years, but I know that I will never be Overpronator again. The lessons I learned as Overpronator is still with me, particularly as I venture further into my current active lifestyle. My body is familiar with the process of progress, and in those moment, Overpronator will be with me.

This is not to say that I will never run another marathon, nor does it mean that my goal to run in the Boston Marathon is forever gone. I even held a lofty goal of being an Ironman close to my heart, which may still happen. I am simply no longer solely focused on my training schedule, meal plan, speed and endurance metrics, or the muscle to fat body composition – my approach to fitness has changed. Perhaps, more importantly, my concept of success has changed. Success is no longer about attaining quantifiable objectives, but instead, has an abstract quality best described as sustainable happiness.

I will leave this blog in place because there is content and material here that may prove helpful for the community dedicated to distance running, myself included. This, however, will be my last entry as Overpronator, and my new identity is yet to be determined.

Namaste friends, till we meet again.