Last race of the year, a little whisky, and some reflections

Join a running group!

I've said that before, I'll say it again. If you have an interest in running, there is nothing like being a part of a running group.

You have of course your family, friends, and colleagues, but nobody can understand you like your running buddies when it comes to training and competition goals, injuries, frustrations, joys, victories, and failures. With who else can you talk for hours on a single injury history, or on a training period towards a competition, or on heart rate zones? Who else will always cheer you, encourage you and motivate you whatever your goals are, and comfort you and give you pep talk during your down periods? And every now and then you can be even lucky to make a new friend for life, getting into deeper topics and opening your hearts to each other.

Friday evening was the annual Little Christmas Whisky Race with a party afterwards. I must admit that I am still struggling to get back my form. I was 4 seconds faster this year than last, but the ground and air conditions were perfect, so I should have done better. OK, so a marathon breaks you down, but think of all that training I invested in before Amsterdam. Should that not pay off now when the fatigue is gone and my energy is back? I could easily get buried in this kind of negative thoughts were it not for the frame around the race. With the whisky bar at the finish at the top and the party down at the club house afterwards, there is no way one can feel down after such an event. So yesterday, instead I found myself thinking about how fun it is to get older.

Yes you read right. When I say this to my younger friends and colleagues, they are always surprised. Perhaps I would also have been if I heard it in my twenties from people in their forties. My goodness, I remember how sorry I felt for them then. When my older colleagues at that time spoke about reading glasses and graying hair, I pitied them. Still they were the ones to have the most fun at parties, and I was always astonished by that. (I mean, like, isn't life almost over?) Now I know why. As we get older, as long as we are lucky to keep our health, life gets easier on many plans. Kids are growing and can take more and more care of themselves, you have reached a level in you career,  for most the economic situation improves, and you get more time for yourself. If you, at this point in life, start investing some time in a rewarding activity, like sports, and on top of that find a group of people to do it with, then life becomes a play ground and you are back to the joys of childhood all over again.

Just think about the race and the party afterwards, and all the people involved in organizing such an event. Carrying food, drinks, and fire wood up to the finish area, registering people and timing the racers, preparing the party, baking cakes, doing kitchen duty, cleaning afterwards, .... And how effortless and easy it all goes when there are so many people who are willing to contribute. It is always like this. There is always somebody who takes initiative to organize a party, a dinner, a weekend trip, a training session, a mountain hike, you name it. With all the extremely sad things going on around the world, I feel so blessed to be surrounded with all this kindness and positive energy.

My experiences from my local club Varegg, with my Bergen running group Melkesyre and Fjellgeitene, and my Istanbul running group Istrunbul, who embraced me so warmly for the brief time I spent there, make me think that running groups all around the world work in this positive way. If you're rather interested in biking or swimming, or other sports, there are groups for those as well.  I follow online quite a few such groups both in Bergen and Istanbul, and they all seem to burst with positive energy. There is no reason to hesitate. Don't do it alone.

Join a group!