2023: A Year of Process

It has taken me a while to write this blog post because I was honestly stuck with where I wanted to go with running in 2023. Reflecting on 2022 was easy and you can read about it here, but looking forward was a challenge because I knew my relationship to and with running was once again at a crossroads and in a state of change.

I ended 2022 knowing that I would be training for and running the London Marathon in April. I also knew that Marine Corps (October) was a possibility as this was my last chance of using up my 2020 race deferment. I ultimately decided to sign up for Marine Corps after reconnecting to the WHY behind my running which is rooted in a curiosity of seeing what I could do and stumbling upon a list I created years ago of my bucket list races. Near the top of that list was Marine Corps and I figured I always had the choice to sign up and not run the race.

So, here I am on Monday, January 30th, 2023 trying to write this blog post about what I am looking forward to as a runner in 2023. I am doing this knowing that my year in running may be marked by not one, but two marathons with two separate training cycles. As someone who, in recent years, has finished each marathon promising herself to never run another marathon, I am left in awe by what 2023 may have in store for me.  

In pure serendipity, I launched season 2 of the Runner’s Round Table in December with a focus on speaking to different female run coaches about their running and coaching stories, coaching philosophies, and views on how to make running more inclusive and accessible. Each discussion has been a gift to me and hopefully to everyone who listens to the episodes. I feel like I have grown so much as a runner throughout the course of 25 discussions (26 if we include chatting with my own coach off the podcast) and it has been through those discussions that clarity about 2023 was been found.

This year will be A Year of Process where my goal will be to approach running more mindfully and with the intention of finding joy in the process. I realized that I kept coming back to the marathon distance because (a) I did enjoy them at one point and (b) I feel like I could get back to enjoying them if I can figure out the puzzle to the current version of myself as a runner. What are some of the pieces? Beyond the running itself (being a runner is more than just running!), it’s nutrition and hydration
(pre-, during, and post-run), strength work, rest, sleep, recovery, mobility, bringing the different movement modalities I like to do into harmony, and, most importantly to where I’m at right now, mindset around running and work required to show up each day.

I still have time goals for myself, but the goals aren’t about getting personal records, they are about going after my personal best on race day. The time goals are linked to what I believe is possible for myself given the mindset I am in because a PR-mindset is very different from a just-finish-mindset and I’m somewhere between those two.

For me, A Year of Process means approaching running almost scientifically with an objectiveness that will hopefully sever any connection I have with my worth and value as a runner with the time and distance metrics I will achieve as a runner. I want to be a better and stronger runner in 2023 so that I can be a better and stronger runner in 2024 and beyond. This year will be all about understanding the process of marathon training and marathon recovery and understanding the process of me becoming a runner who is confident in her ability to reach the start line feeling strong and injury-free and cross the finish line feeling like I performed at my best with a mind full of cheers.

This will also be a year where I hope to grow the podcast more because I love having my days be full of running stories. There is no one way to be a runner and no single track to becoming a runner and I want to show everyone that there is space for them in this sport.

To 2023. To loving the process of being a runner, becoming a marathoner, and sharing running stories from all walks of life.

To listen to all the Conversations with Coaches on season 2 of the Runner’s Round Table, go here.

To support my Journey to London, please consider making a donation to my Rays of Sunshine fundraiser here.