Running Through My Early 20s

Hey there! I'm Phil, and I’m preparing for my first 100 mile race this October!

(https://www.pinterest.com/pin/437975132482574392/)
I do not own this picture

With my runs becoming longer and longer, I’m stuck talking to myself in my head for way too long. I thought I’d start documenting my runs, and what goes through my head during the hours I’m alone on the trails/streets.

This morning I got up, chugged a medium iced coffee from Dunkin, and started my run. What I love about Sunday runs is that I have no time constraint, and no guidelines really. Weekday runs are too focused on being efficient, because weekday time is valuable. Saturday runs have to fit in with whatever weekend plans you have. But, Sunday runs- you can be out there forever.

The slow pace of Sunday runs also provides the perfect backdrop for phone calls to everyone you’ve been ‘too busy’ to talk to- got a call in to Mom on her way to church, and a call to my dad while he was grabbing lunch.

The conversations that I have with my parents have really changed as I got older- In college I’d find myself rushing them off the phone so I could drink with my buddies, but now, we talk for hours on any subject. We got to talking about how it’s been exactly a year since I graduated college, and everything that’s changed so far- particularly me moving back from the west coast (just moved from Seattle to Boston last month!) After that call ended, I was left thinking about where I am in life now, how I got here, and what I really want to do. Not knowing the answer to the last question scares the shit out of me- but I think we’re all in the same boat.

After the call, I went back to shuffling my twenty something playlist on Spotify. I’m not sure if it’s normal, but if I get hooked on a song, I play it on repeat until I get completely sick of it. Today it was ‘The Ones Who Got Me Here’ by Cole Swindell. The title does a pretty good job at explaining what the song is about- thanking everyone who helped him get to where he is.

I think a lot of the time, we’re so caught up with the end goal, that we forget how far we’ve come along the way. More importantly, we forget how much certain people in our lives have helped us to get here- family, friends, teachers, professors, strangers, bosses.
Swindell sums it up perfectly in his song with the line, ’to my biggest fan, momma back home’.

So my 13 mile Sunday run, and first post, goes out to my biggest fan, momma back home.

P.S. She really doesn’t want me to run this race and thinks 100 miles will get me in the hospital.

link to Instagram!