They say, when "they" are trying to offer perspective, that there is always someone faster and slower than you out there, which is statistically true for all but two people. Like the kid whose parents tell him about the starving kids in Africa as a driver to finish his green beans, this has always been too abstract for me to latch onto, even if it is true. The truth is we spend most of our time in the middle...between those running behind and in front of us; chasing and outdistancing other versions of ourself.
If this blog had covered my last 3 years of running it would have tales of how great things are going with my running, and how impossible, injury-causing, that running is to me as well. In reality, most of my running time is spent between the triumphs and tragedies - logging miles on loops I could do in my sleep, gutting out a AM track workout, being injured enough to slow down, but not quite stop. This is the reason for the blog's title, stealing from one of my favorite bands, singing about what I interpret as that space and struggle in the "in between".
As that was the reason for the title, the reason I started this is just that I think about running OHSOMUCH. I carve out the time and energy for the family I love, the job I'm lucky to have, and all else that makes up my identity, yet there is building pressure almost of thoughts of fitting in my next run, when will (fill in the blank) stop hurting. The thoughts, sometimes deflecting like a raquetball, also include music, which I find hard to talk about without bringing in running, and I followed several top-notch blogs that feel the same way.
So yeah, that's what ultimately gave me the internal shove to start this blog...to turn down the voices in my head, to invite the voices of others in, and to constantly remind myself that I am not a swan, nor am I as ugly as I think I am.
