What Happens When You Step Away?

For most of my life, I’ve been a runner. Running has been the one activity that I’ve done year round, with my only goal of being the best I could be.

Recently, however, I decided to step away from it. This decision wasn’t easy. My whole identity was wrapped up in running. The activity, the training, the races. What would happen to me when I diverged from that?

I’m about 6 weeks removed now, and have learned quite a bit about myself in that time.

Life Goes On: I thought the world would end when I stepped away. Instead, I found other activities to partake in, and other athletic endeavors to treat my body to. For example, I took up weight lifting, and greatly enjoy what it’s been doing for me. The new challenge is exciting.

Everything In Moderation: I couldn’t give running up 100%, so now, I only run about 4 days a week, on the days I don’t lift. This gives me my “fix” so to speak, but gives my body the much needed rest that it was craving during my last training cycle.

Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket: It’s important to keep yourself flexible, and be multi faceted. When I was running, that was my sole focus. My sleep, food, social activities all revolved around my training, and I’m not even fast! With stepping away, I can split my time to any number of other hobbies, work, social activities, and so forth. It’s given me a kind of clarity, and a release of tension that I never imagined.

You don’t have to be a runner to identify with this thought. It can be applied to anything in life. If you focus too much on any one thing for too long, it’s bound to get boring, or you could get burned out. Take this chance to look at the activities in your life, and how you spend your time. I challenge you to do something for yourself, and diverge if it’s in your best interest.

Starting is always the hardest part, but it gets easier with time.

Questions or comments? Reach out to me at dcherbert5@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading!