I have a little Problem

I have a little problem - I like to run just a little too much - and I'm a little too old for such nonsense. So be it...

I am a runner, a mother, a climber, and a philosopher (as in, I like to think about and examine questions that are difficult, if not impossible, to answer). These are the four words that I believe best sum up the central aspects of my life. They all came to me and stuck, and I became them.

I've been a runner for 25 years - Well, actually much longer than that - I ran my first race when I was 8 years old, the only girl in the pack, and that was it, I was hooked. But over the past 25 years, running has been a constant in my life - through all the changes of life - I remain a runner.

I was a fairly serious road racer 20 years ago. I then took an extended break from racing and ran to run and to think and to breath and to live. Three years ago, I suffered what I believed was an overuse injury due to running 50+ mile weeks pushing a baby jogger the whole way. The Docs looked at my knees (MRI) and told me that my running days were over. Strangely, my pain was not in my knee and so I set off on a journey to find an answer that made sense. After 10 months of no running I stumbled upon something that at last resolved my tendinosis. Since being told I was "done" and there was nothing that could be done for me, I have run two marathons, many 10ks and half marathons. That injury is no more. But, I realized that there are certain things I want to accomplish before the true end of my running days (if that day ever comes).

I'm also a rock climber (and climbing coach for 13 years), for nearly 20 years, a mother of a daughter, for a little more than four years, and a college philosophy instructor, for 12 years. All of these define who I am and what sorts of things I'm interested in.

So, what is the point of all of this? Chronic Runner is the name - Some think I have a little running problem - but running is like eating to me - it allows me time to think, to make sense of the world around me - things will come up that I find interesting, perplexing, disturbing, outrageous, hopeful, etc. Just important subjects and questions to chew on...And, of course there will be running, running, running...