InnerTeub

Last week, Ben Does Life reminded me of the old Adidas marketing campaign: “Runners: Yeah, We’re Different”

I loved looking at these ads so much – they reminded me of the 4 or 5 years of my life I spent deeply immersed in running and triathlon… running a 5k in Disney with character costumes on a few weeks after heart surgery, volunteering at Ironman Arizona and cheering on my friends racing that day, six exhausted runners sharing 2 beds in a crappy motel after the Sunmart Ultramarathon in Huntsville, Texas, Sunday morning brunches in sweaty running clothes.

In the spring of 2005, I had just finished my masters degree and was working full time, and found myself worried about leaving behind school and the inherent social element that came with it. Around that time, I went to a running clinic hosted by the D.C. Triathlon club, with the intent of trying to meet people. (As I explained to my grad school roommate at the time: “I dunno, I gotta find my people SOMEWHERE.”)

From there things kind of spiraled out of control. I open an account at BeginnerTriathlete.com and met other new triathletes. I kept going to D.C. Tri Club workouts and happy hours (mostly the happy hours), and sure enough, I found my people. In the fall of 2006, when I ran my first marathon, 7 friends – all who I met on BT, all who traveled from different states – ran alongside me, shuttling their own time and goals to pace me to the finish. Training for an Ironman can be isolating, but not when most people you know are training too — there’s no time for isolation, you run into your friends at the pool, in spin class, at the bike shop. My book club started when we were all deep in training and were seeking something non-triathlon related to do with our time. When Mike and I left D.C., almost every single good friend at our going away party we met through the Tri Club; there was a period of time in there when the only friends I had were people I saw in Spandex.

Things do change — of those people at our going away party, the majority now have young children and can’t spend their days on epic bike rides or their nights at epic happy hours, and while I still log at BT, I don’t keep up with the community as much, and my main core group have adjusted their focus as well. But I remember those days of going to work with a dissembled bike in the back of my car, ready to be thrown together to minute the work day was over so I could get in an afternoon ride with friends. I remember the weekends of travel to races for the primary purpose of meeting up with good friends and secondary purpose of racing. When I look at those Adidas marketing ads, I remember being part of a group that did “weird” things but that felt so normal to all of us.

It feels past tense to me, but I suppose that’s not the case; just a few weeks ago I made plans to travel to Duluth to both meet up with friends and run a marathon while I’m at it. I can only hope that as Mike and I set up this new phase in life, we’re so lucky as to continue to have the chance to spend our days and our miles with good friends along side of us.