Find your weird
And post-race running notes | Vol. 45
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Last week, I shared two dispatches. One focused on an advertising legend who recently passed, and the other focused on running notes and a reminder to practice gratitude and confidence building. If you missed them, give them a read.
This week, I share how it was running the 2024 Brooklyn Half in a little spoken-word recap. Also, a push for you to find your weird, which is another way of saying your magic.
RUNNING NOTES: RECAPPING THE 2024 BROOKLYN HALF
I wrote the above the day after I ran 13.1 miles with 28,000 other folks in the largest half-marathon in North America.
It’s the fifth time in 10 years I have run this race.
My fastest time was 8 years ago (1:41:07). After doing 2x marathons in the past six months, I was curious if I could outdo my best half-marathon time from 8 years ago. And I did with a 1:38:31 / 7:31 per mile average.
I love the great mystery of running and performance. In a way, it’s a process of discovering what your mind and body are capable of.
In all the previous half-marathon races, I ran hard in the first 7 miles. And in every previous race, I barely held on at the end.
In this year’s race, my challenge to myself was to just hug 7:30 - 7:40 for the first 7 miles so that I could have some gas in the tank at the end of the race. And it proved to be the correct strategy.
It took me five tries to get it right, but better late than never.
There’s always time and room for growth.
A POSITIVE CHALLENGE: FIND YOUR WEIRD / YOU ARE A CONSTANT WORK IN PROGRESS
“Be yourself. Be as weird as you want to be. Stop listening to other people and doing what they tell you. Just follow what your soul tells you. What makes you different and be weird. We need more weird people who. More individuals who are unique, who create art and businesses that reflect themselves. So just be you. Be weird. Let a thousand flowers bloom, as they used to say in China.” - Robert Greene | SOURCE
This clip bubbled up to me last year, as did this one from Natasha Lyone, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it ever since.
What is my weird? Who am I really? How can I be at the middle stage of my life and not even have a quick answer to this? How can I still be asking this question?
^^Amen to that^^
That’s the thing. We are all always a work in progress. Even after we’ve “graduated.” After “we’ve made it.” After “we hit INSERT HERE life milestone.”
We always need to find ways to check in with ourselves.
Who am I?
What matters to me? And why?
What are my favorite manifestations of what matters to me?
For example, I know I’m a very sensitive person. It’s hard for me even to write that sentence. Because, in one way or another. Culture has told me. As a man, I can’t be sensitive and strong. I can’t be sensitive and smart. I can’t be sensitive at all. I must show stoic strength in order to be respected. In order to win the battle.
So, for years, I’ve hidden that from myself and the world.
Yet, it’s one of my superpowers.The thing that is seen largely as weakness and is often discredited is my superpower. Your bugs become your features.
Separate yet related it’s a big reason why I choose to be an optimist. I choose to stay up and happy about each day.
In a cynical world, staying up and optimistic is very hard to do. And I have to be careful with my optimism. I constantly have to tote a line in order to make other people feel okay with themselves.
But here’s the thing: we will all be dead soon. It’s no fun to think about. But it’s the truth.
The more I embrace that reality, the more I ask myself, what do I want to do with my time here?
The answer is that I want to be happy, to celebrate, and to believe in hope and new possibilities.
I don’t want to spend more of my time being serious, rigid, political, or egotistically self-serving.
I want to spend my time laughing, striving to break through new barriers, and being grateful for the ride.
Because there is always hope.
But you have to fight for it.
We all do.
YOUR NEXT STEPS
What is your weird?
Can you tell yourself what it is?
If not, go get a pen and a notebook.
Answer the following questions:
What was I super interested when I was a teenager and why? Did I get away from it or am I still into it?
What would I be doing with my time if money wasn’t a thing I worried about?
What experiences have lit up your soul the most? Are you doing them on a consistent basis? What do they say about who you are as a person? Do you foster those core elements enough?
This is a good exercise. What is your weird? After pin pointing it, you can unpack it some more. There are ways to acknowledge it and foster it so that the world can have more of your unique abundance.
IMAGES OF THE WEEK
It’s springtime
Go forth.
Stay safe.
Ride the wave.
-Mitch