Square Peg, Round Hole...or something like that.

I think I was trying to be something I am not. 

What is it, you may ask, that I am not?

An anthropologist? A dog person? A better-than-adequate cook? 
Mildly obsessive about proper grammar and spelling?

All wrong answers. (I am, unapologetically, all of those things.)

So what is it? 

I am not a runner. 
I find this interesting because I began this blog so many months ago to document the trials and tribulations of my running efforts. 
And I suppose I should clarify. I can run. I can knock off three or four miles in a not unreasonable amount of time without feeling like I might pass out. 
I suppose I could run farther than that if I wanted to. 
But the kicker is simply that I don't want to.

This lack of initiative to run, particularly great distances, may be best demonstrated by the nonchalance with which I turned my  back on a promise to run the Boilermaker in July. I said I would. And I meant it. And if circumstances were different, I probably would. But when a friend said that she would come to visit in early July (from the Netherlands and the first time we've seen each other in two years), I happily broke my Boilermaker promise. Without question. Because if you were traveling well over three thousand miles to see me, I'd ditch all my previous plans too. And my running plans were replaced with epic road trip plans. And I'm not sorry about that at all.

What all of this means is that I think I've given up on this "I'm going to run a race!" nonsense. Because I really don't care to do it. I spend enough time at the gym sweating through aerobic/kickboxing/weight lifting insanity every week. I don't need to take up more of my time worrying about how fast I can run a mile.

And there's something else. A new goal. It does involve long distances, but without the unpleasantness of running. I was reading last month's copy of Backpacker magazine the other day when I discovered a trail that extends from Crown Point, New York to somewhere in North Dakota.
(take a look at northcountrytrail.org)

It's about 4,600 miles. Now that would be quite an undertaking! 
And I'd very much like to do it.

But since I've never hiked more than twenty miles in one shot, I thought maybe  I'd start with something a little smaller. So, I'm leaning toward thru-hiking the Long Trail. At 273 miles, it seems a little less intimidating. 
And I think it would be a sweaty, stinky, blistery, magnificent adventure! 
Next Spring. After I finish my master's degree. I plan to be on the trail. 
I'll laugh, I'll cry, I'll scratch my skin raw after the black flies get to me. 
It will be delightful! 

Here's hoping that nothing gets in the way of the new plan. 
After all- unlike running, I actually enjoy hiking. I want to be on a trail! 

So, enough of trying to be a runner when I am clearly just a hiker. 

And just because....

go listen to one of my favorite tunes.
click here ------> Natalie Merchant- Wonder  <------ click there