A "Lifestyle Runner"

Snow Day +1

I opened my email this morning to see an invitation to an ambassador program for a local race in Birmingham.  It's beyond me how I still get these things, seeing how 1) I've moved to Tennessee, 2) I'm doing an amount and type of running that could probably best be referred to as "recreational," and 3) I'm not currently anyone's "ambassador"...no track clubs, no races, no products, no plans.  I'm wear testing for two different companies, but that's something that can be done in the complete absence of social media.

Then I saw the attached FAQ, reassuring me that said local race has ambassadors who "range from elite athletes to lifestyle runners."  Cool!  I'd never heard the term "lifestyle runner" before.  At first, I was like WHOA WHOA WHOA lifestyle???!  Who wants to make running their life?  And something about the implied spectrum made it seem like these mysterious lifestyle folks were somehow the complete opposite of THUPER THERIOUS elite runners.  It made them seem casual and slow.  

Am I?  Probably.

Did you guys see this Bloomberg piece on Brooks Running?  It talks a lot about what makes "a runner,"  whether road running as it exists today is really a sport, and what motivates people to take up running.  Fascinating stuff.

After some time to ponder all of this, I think I really enjoy the term lifestyle runner.  It fits me, right now and probably always.  

As you can probably guess from the photo above, we got more heavy snowfall and saw some truly frigid temperatures.  I took Tuesday and Wednesday off of running, mostly because schools were closed and I had both kids on my hands.  But also because I don't want to run on ice.  Yesterday, I braved some gravel roads that were less slick, and today I found a nice, long stretch of dirt fire roads that hadn't been plowed.  Running in fresh snow is such a pure, childlike delight.  

Oh, and if it makes any difference I'm not applying to the local ambassador program.  The race is one of my least favorite distances.  And I'm not ready to commit to any formal training plan just yet.  I'll do that in spring.