#runforjoy2017

This isn’t a New Year’s resolution post, I promise. But, I think it’s normal to reflect and project at this time of year. I’ve moved past feeling like the new year is one big cliche to realizing it’s part of human nature to mark the passing of time.

I’m staring in the face of a 2017 that is sure to be pretty work-heavy: big deadlines, with a lot of lead-up activities and planning and organizing and meetings and…

Which is ill-timed with the fact that I’m feeling some more mental space to dust off some of the languishing parts of my brain: writing, political activism (or at least caring and being proactive), volunteering.

And running. Running is always there, and I’m coming off a 2016 that was a bit lackluster in terms of running and racing, following a 2015 Chicago Marathon that was the most perfect race I could have asked for.

Where does running fit into a year of busy-ness, knowing that it’s hard for me not to race, yet knowing that it’s something that will be logistically challenging to fit into a busy schedule?

With all that swirling around my head, I keep coming back to one word: balance.

I don’t want work to consume me totally. I don’t want to be distracted away from work. But I know I’m happiest when I’m multi-dimensional. When I have more than one goal to focus on, to structure my days around, to analyze.

I want balance, to be able to do all the things that spark me, that make me feel like me and also make me feel like I’m contributing to the human race.

So, running – coming off a blah year normally would kick my ass into training for a marathon or something decidedly not balanced.

This year, I want to run for sanity. I want to run because it helps me feel balanced. I want to run for joy.

I won’t not race. I won’t not do workouts with the team. I won’t not run because it’s easier not to. But I’m taking the pressure off.

How do you run for joy? I’m planning on using the hashtag #runforjoy2017 to document my year, and to remind myself why I get out there. Join me!

Run joyfully.