I don’t know about you but my Instagram feed has been all Boston, all the time for the past few days. I thought that I would feel indifferent when this day rolled around: excited to watch it on TV, but with no desire to be there.

I didn’t re-qualify when I ran Boston last year and my experience there wasn’t that great, so last summer I switched gears and mixed it up with some mountain running and trail races-which it turns out I LOVE.

I thought I’d moved on and put Boston behind me. But I do feel like I’m missing out-not necessarily on the race itself, I've never been happier to not be training for or running a marathon-but on the electric atmosphere that surrounds the race. It was so fun to be in Boston in the days leading up to the race last year (minus the city driving).

I feel like I'm missing out on the connections and friendships of running the Boston Marathon. So many of my good friends are running!

I do feel like at some point I want to go back with a different mindset and expectation-looking to run for fun and not as a ‘goal’ race. Who knows when that will be, certainly not next year but maybe in 2019 or 2020.

Boston was the reason I became a runner, but it is not the reason I will stay a runner.

My running is going in a new direction and that direction is UP.

Last week I ran my first road race since the CHaD Half Marathon in October 2016. Quite frankly I didn't write a race recap because I was embarrassed by the results--that and life has been stressful and crazy lately with house construction (although if I were proud of the results I probably would have made time to write a recap). After the race I had some in-depth discussions with my coach about what I really want and some of my long-term goals, and the center mostly around mountain and trail running.

It is uncharted territory for me, but I had more fun running mountain and trail races last year than I've ever had running a road marathon.

I’m not completely leaving road running, but the intention behind my running has definitely shifted.

And because the intention is shifting so is my training. The type of training I'm doing is pretty specific to mountain running, which doesn't necessarily translate to faster road running times. New directions often require a bit of humility as you go from feeling strong and confident in a familiar area and move into uncharted territory. I'm excited to see where running will take me over the next year and how different terrain and a different approach will change the experience for me.

Are you watching Boston today? Have you ever changed directions with your running and tried something new?

-Sarah

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Thoughts on Boston and What's Ahead

Boston was the reason I became a runner, but it is not the reason I will stay a runner.

I’m not completely leaving road running, but the intention behind my running has definitely shifted.

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