Don't Chase the Fitness, Let the Fitness Come to You: Reflections and Looking Forward to 2026
I took 2 weeks off to reflect on this past year. I had tons of fun, no doubt. Over the past year, I ran 2 road marathons, a 50 km ultra marathon, a 50 mile ultra marathon, a 197 mile road relay (Hood to Coast) and just recently I ran a 7 mile trail race. But there was still a part of me that didn't feel satisfied. The arbitrary goal of hitting sub 4 hours in a road marathon eluded me and I was getting increasingly frustrated that I kept falling short. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that I was so hyper-focused breaking 4 hours goal that I ended up skipping steps. I got a little drunk off the allure of the marathon distance. It's an admirable distance for sure, but running a marathon does not make you "more" of a runner than someone who hasn't run a marathon. I spent months chasing after goal marathon pace and completely ignored all my other paces. I've been preaching "go slow to run fast," which is absolutely true. Turns out if I go slo...