Running x Sobriety
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Text and texture from the path.
Running lets us fully experience the present moment, yet also connect with something ancient and ethereal. It’s easy, it’s difficult. We’re fragile, we’re strong. In these contrasts – this groundlessness – we find unexpected strength. We loosen our grip, become more patient, work with discomfort… The same building blocks, it turns out, of alcohol-free living. Last Chance Running explores the intersections of running and sobriety, and how we might tap this powerful combo for a life of self-reliance, calm, creativity, and deep presence. Thanks for being here. | More About This Project
Recent Articles
Mindset Matters: Four Minutes Faster
I held my running more gently this year, showed myself some patience and grace. It was all quite intentional… A grab at something deeper than the time on the finish clock. Going into the final "A" race of the season, I was just as intentional, with a twist.
Give Yourself the (Re)Boot
Healthy humans are constantly evolving. Taking a planned break from habits is a great way to clear the slate, refresh perspectives, and reorient your compass to the person you're becoming. Here's how (and why, and when) to do an old-fashioned system restart.
Back to Boston: Training Hopefulness
It's a mistake to cling to rigid training modalities and success metrics. Rigid systems break. When things get difficult, we're wise to pause and remember that we always have options. Deploying thoughtful and intentional choices gives us agency… and agency is the bedrock of hope.
Back to Boston
It's not quite right to call our return to Boston a “re-do.” That would imply a desire to erase or replace the tragic events of 2013. We never wanted to forget. Much like other aspects of recovery, Boston 2023 was about making peace with the past and fully experiencing the present.
Temperance and Tapering: The Trials of Cutting Back
Change is disorienting. Anyone who’s trained for a marathon knows well the physical and psychological challenges of tapering (a reduction in running as the goal race nears). Same goes for restricting alcohol. You know it’s a good thing, but damn is it hard.
“Get me out of here.” My 2013 Boston Marathon
This is the first time I’ve tried to put my 2013 Boston Marathon experience into words. Hell, it might be the first time I’ve challenged myself to really think about it. Mine bears no comparison to the stories of the thousands whose lives were broken on April 15.