Identity Crisis: A Triathablog Fable

"Are you the runner?" I keep getting this question from Triathablog readers, and it always throws me.

I feel like a pretender when I call myself a runner. I used to describe myself as a jogger, since I'm really slow. But, apparently, jogging is taboo. I kept seeing these demoralizing ads reading, "When you run, you suffer. When you jog, the sport suffers." Ouch. That's when I started referring to myself as a runner. A really, really slow runner.

So, jogging is out. But it seems taking the running mantle wasn't enough. Apparently, I need to be doing speed work, or training for a marathon, or running hills, or joining a running group.

Unfortunately for my running cred, I've never run a race. I'm not trying to beat my PR (personal record). I don't even know my PR. I'll admit, 5Ks seem intriguing, with their themes and t-shirts and charity fundraising. And finishing a marathon, while not exactly unique anymore, still seems pretty daunting and impressive.

But, for now, I'm more of a tortoise than a hare. I don't run to break a tape or a time. I run because it makes my morning better. It forces me to take time to think and dream, to lose myself in the rhythm of my own footsteps and my own breathing (or in the rhythm of a NOFX song). I run because I like it.

And, obviously, I run to beat Elisa and Amanda.

I hope to get to a place where I don't feel inferior. Maybe I'll eventually be able to answer the question with confidence, "Yes, I'm the runner." Maybe I'll even be able to finish a marathon.

After all, in the end, the tortoise won the race.