I’m Back – with a New Running Goal

It’s been over a year since I’ve posted. Lots has happened. Through it all I’ve still been running. I haven’t raced much, but I’ve been running. I can’t imagine life without running – don’t want to. I’d like to think that, while I can still run, I’ll always find time to run. Hopefully.

So. Last summer, I did the old career gut check: can I see myself doing what I’m doing 5 years down the road? There I was watching the London Olympics, feeling like the career side of my life was in a rut. I’d been here before, but for some reason, this time I actually decided to do something about it – to really sit my butt down and think – well, what is it that you want to spend your days doing? The answer finally came in the wee hours of a sleepless July night – an answer I should’ve seen or had the guts to acknowledge years ago – I wanted to be a physiotherapist.

As a runner, I’ve undergone my fair share of physio – I’ve received so much great treatment, good advice, and honest encouragement from physios. But the possibilities of the job go well beyond fixing up recreational athletes – anyone with mobility issues benefits from physio attention… from people recovering from surgery to stroke survivors and others with neurological damage. I finally realized that keeping bodies moving as much as possible is work that I find significant. It’s something I could see myself doing 5, 10, 20 years down the road.

So I decided to do a bit of a 90-degree life turn.

I went back to school in September to do the prerequisite science courses (my background is firmly in the humanities) required to apply to the MSc in Physiotherapy program. I felt pretty darn old amongst first-year students – but it didn’t matter – I knew exactly what I was there for and exactly what I wanted. The courses went great, then the interview to get into Physio went great, and in May I was accepted to the program at Dalhousie University. I start this September.

The last year has been busy but really amazing. And through the stress of it, running kept my head above water.

With this return to school, though, comes a new running opportunity – and my new running goal: I’m going to try to make the Dalhousie Cross Country team.

Perhaps I’m crazy. I’m 37. I started running just to lose weight and get in shape. The guys on the team will be almost two decade younger than me. They’ve probably never been overweight (like I was 10 years ago) – probably never smoked half a pack of cigarettes a day (like I did 10 years ago). Is there any way I can run with them? Maybe not. But I’d sure like to try. I want a taste of varsity training. I want to take a shot at running for the school.

So this is where I am right now with running – I’m trying to get as fit as a 20 year old. I’m trying to bring my 10k time down as much as possible. I have no idea where this goal will lead, but I’m going to work my butt off trying to get as fast as possible.

Only time will tell how this narrative will unfold.