Turtle Season Open!

Today marks a full year that I have been a runner.  I'm not counting all the walking and sissy-running I did before I joined the Towpath Turtles.  When I started the running season last year, I did not even know what I did not know.  Shoes?  Fuel?  What the hell is Gu, anyway?  Tapering--does that involve duct tape?  It was so overwhelming.  Each Sunday that I ran with the group, I picked the brains of the runners around me.  I pestered them with question after question, and they were always kind and honest with their answers.  Now I pester them with teasing and mocking. . . and they are still always kind and honest.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I look out the window on a rainy day.

Today started the new Turtle season, and I was so happy to see so many beginning runners.  I know what they are in for, and I know how much they will learn about themselves in one year.  It made me happy to see so many future friends gather to investigate why people run.  (Can you tell the endorphins from my long run haven't faded away?  I love you, man.)

This is my message to new Turtles:  Don't make goals right now; just be.  Any goal that you make will not truly measure your capability.  You do not understand right now how great you will be at the end of just one tiny year.  Just follow the group on Sundays and work into your weekday runs.  Sign up for as many Turtle races as you can when they happen.  Don't look ahead to them now.  Let your success surprise you in the beginning, and then expect it when you have learned more about your extraordinary physical and mental powers.

I am running away from trouble, and you are running to self-discovery.  We can do it together.  Run with me.