Passion, Running Longer and a Prayer Request

Prayer Request

We need some prayers, guys. If you don’t hang out with me on Facebook, then you might not have heard that my sister had her baby way too early: at 23 weeks and 2 days to be exact. Faith’s premature birth was, in my opinion, mishandled and she is truly a miracle baby.

My sister, her fiance and her young boys are in need of prayers, too, as they go through this with little Faith, who weighs just over one pound right now. They also are in need of some financial help as you can imagine. You can read the whole story on her Go Fund Me page.

Thanks in advance for the positive thoughts and prayers.

On Passion

A quick note on writing…I was really writing a book. It was so exciting to announce that and I was actually doing it.

But, at the same time, I found the process extremely boring. I was very unmotivated. And it forced me to take a long, hard look at my so-called passion for writing.

Is writing truly my passion? Or was it something I felt I had to do because I’m a writer in my day job?

I did a lot of reading on the subject and after thinking it to death, I came to the conclusion that I am not passionate about writing a book. At least not right now. Maybe when I’m older.

I guess I just wanted to leave the world with something when I’m gone. You know? Some sort of legacy. But why? The only people who will matter when I’m gone are my family and friends, and hopefully I will leave the legacy of many good (and I’m sure some bad, nobody’s perfect) memories. I feel almost panicky writing this. The fear of letting go of something you’ve been thinking about for a long time…

However…I still am thinking about a children’s picture book, which is what I originally wanted to write. I feel very passionate about kids and reading. My youngest sister and I (not the one mentioned above) are 14 years apart. Reading to her was my favorite thing to do when she was little.

I started reading to my son the day he came home from the hospital. He loves books. Six years later, we still read almost every night. I hate nights we have to skip it (if we get home too late or something). And, even though, he’s reading way above his level, he and I still both love sharing a picture book together. So I might work on one. Maybe just write one for him. Who knows.

So what IS my passion?

I hate to say this, but I think it’s running. Why do I hate to say that? Because running is a hobby and I guess I sort of hoped I could make a career out of my hobby. Doesn’t everyone want that? Find something you are passionate about and do it all the time. But, we have bills. It’s not that I hate copywriting. I actually really like it. And I like where I work, too. So, I’m happy. Running is my hobby that I’m really, really passionate about.

Dropping the novel-writing pressure was a huge weight off my shoulders. I feel much happier now. And I really enjoy being in the moment…especially out on the trails lately.

On Running Goals

So, this brings me to running goals. I feel like my goals keep changing…because they do. First, I wanted to go for that sub-1:50 half (which I still want) and then it was a sub-24 5K (and I still want that). The problem is that it seems like every time I ramp up the speed work, I am flirting with injury. My big toe (the Hallux Limitus one), shin and ankle were hurting really bad last week. But the soreness usually went away after a day of res. Still, I’ve slowed my running way down because I’m scared of getting injured.

I just really don’t want to get hurt. Having been there before, I know how much not fun it is.

I don’t know. I hate to really “announce” any new goals since I feel like they keep changing. But I will say that I’m really, really getting the urge to run long again and I’m definitely thinking of doing a marathon in 2015.

About this Blog

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I’m sure you’ve noticed a change in focus over the past couple of years. It started as a journal, but after several years of that, I wanted to be more helpful to new runners.

While I love being helpful, there are so many great blogs for new runners out there, that I don’t know that I can add anything extra special. Maybe if I didn’t have a job and a young son…then I could spend more time interviewing people, researching and offering something new and exciting to the running scene.

So, I’ve been thinking about it and I want to go back to the old way, which is simply a daily journal of my running journey.

What do you think?