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Saturday, January 5, 2013

A Marathoner or Just Someone Who Runs Marathons?

Am I a marathon runner?  (Rhetorical question, no need to answer.)

I know we have all seen posts proclaiming that you don't need to run a certain speed, a particular distance or a set event to consider yourself a runner.  The bottom line in these messages is if you run, you are a runner.  And, I firmly believe that....  Well, "firmly" in a standing-in-four-inch-spikes-while-balancing-on-a-skateboard-on-the-deck-of-a-ship-in-the-midst-of-a-rolling-storm kind of way.  After all, I know a lot of people who run who I wouldn't consider runners.  

Sacrilege, you say!  Unsupportive snobbery, you say!  Perhaps.  But I do believe there is a world of difference between someone who runs - even daily - for exercise, but could take it or leave it, and the person who runs only three times a week but would go insane without it.  I know people of both varieties.  The latter I would firmly declare is a runner.  The former, I'm still a little unclear on.

You see, to me, a "runner" is someone who is kind of, sort of obsessed with it.  You know, someone who .... shhhh....don't say it out loud, someone who is maybe, perhaps, just a little bit addicted.  

Hmm, interesting.  I think I just answered my own question.  I was going to do this whole post on how while I feel I am a runner, I don't really consider myself a marathoner - how despite having done two marathons and almost completing a third (and having a fourth coming up!) I still can't quite bring myself to hang that moniker around my neck as easily as the finisher's medals I have received.  The ability eludes me, like trying to view something through a shifting fog.  I was going to throw that out to the world wide web and ask how can that be.  However, I think I just answered my own question.

I don't feel like a marathoner, because I am not addicted to them - yet.  I am obsessed with the idea of doing them, but I can't not live without them.  

This all came about as I was reading another person's blog post on how running a marathon - as opposed to a shorter distance - is a life-changing event.  How the commitment to training and sheer difficulty make the accomplishment of it transformative in a person's life.  Reading that, though, I was challenged.  With the few marathons I have run, I have failed to feel afterwards anywhere near the same transformative effect that I felt after running my first half marathon, and I wish I knew why.  Certainly, the marathons were harder.  Certainly, they were intimidating.  Certainly, there was a level of commitment that just can't be matched by a half marathon training program. But, the truth is that I felt more transformed, more in awe of having done that first half marathon, than I ever did with either marathon.  

Maybe my inability to call myself a marathoner has to do with the fact that I know I can do more, but I am not addicted to them.  They have never called to me like running in general does.  After running my first half marathon, I was hooked.  I wanted to keep running.  I wanted to do more.  It wasn't easy.  God knows, it's never been easy or come easily, but I wanted to keep at it, keep plugging away.  After the marathon, meh....take it or leave it.  

Like an avid runner who can switch to the elliptical or a CrossFit class at any time, I can drop from a marathon without much thought.  The idea doesn't devastate me.

However, slowly, a transformation is taking place.  I don't know if a marathon will ever give me that big transformative effect or feeling of awe back - the one I felt after my first half marathon, and the one I felt after doing the Pikes Peak Ascent - but the idea has gotten hold of my brain that I want to do more of these things.  I want to work for them more.  I don't want to throw in the towel.  Maybe as my ability catches up with my desires, I am slowly becoming more addicted to running 26.2.  And, maybe then, I will be able to call myself comfortably and without hesitation a marathoner.

Either that, or I should quit now while there is still time.

Happy Running!

8 comments:

  1. Hahaha Shannon, you're a runner. Stop now, go get the t-shirt that says so. You jumped the shark when you did you're first marathon. This enable you to understand the sacrifices and commitment it takes to train, then complete that kind of distance.
    There are a lot of types of runners and as you know, any form of exercise is good exercies; I read that in another blog: http://lifeasarunningmom.blogspot.com/2013/01/resolutions-2013.html . If you find yourself literally think about the run while driving, eating, sleeping, and even on the toilet...you're a runner! Good luck with your next marathon!

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    1. Thanks for the positive reinforcement! I guess I shouldn't belittle the whole finishing a marathon thing. I can't understand why I am so underwhelmed by my personal accomplishment in that area, but I am. Maybe this one coming up will be the one that puts me over the edge? Runner? Definitely. I am obsessed with it. :)

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  2. I agree with Patty although I also agree that I love half and after my first marathon I could take it or leave it, not hooked, but intrigued.

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    1. I think the Half is the perfect distance, well, actually 15K. (Cuz it's about nine miles into a Half that I am ready to be done. lol) The Half is hard but manageable, and I don't feel shot afterwards. The marathon just typically wipes me out. Although, I have hope. I actually did an 18-miler last week that I felt fine afterward. Crazy, but it gave me hope that maybe this marathon will be different.

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  3. Half marathons are definitely more enjoyable, but there is something about the uncertainty of the marathon that keeps luring me back. Even after the crapshot of a marathon I had last month, I still want more.

    Last week, they did a lesson at church on addiction, and every point they were trying to make about drug, alcohol, porn, etc., I could definitely apply to running. I'm hooked.

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    1. I think you are right. A half marathon is almost a given now. I may not run them well, but I know I can run them. My own personal history has proven that a marathon finish is by no means a certainty with me. It makes it kind of scary. :)

      Yes, I would say you are addicted. But in a good way, right? lol I hope so, because I am right there with you.

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  4. I agreee that someone who runs regularly for fitness but doesn't particularly enjoy it, is not someone I would call 'a runner'. I think you have to run races and be a bit obsessed to be a runner. It sounds to me as though you are a marathoner!

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    1. I wonder if there is a difference between running and racing....Because I know I am addicted to racing too, even though I don't enjoy it as much as just running. Although without the racing to give me focus, I don't know if I would enjoy the running as much. :)

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