Monday, April 25, 2011

The Final Chapter

It's been awhile, I know. And, now, I don't want to make a big deal out this.  But, it's time to say good-bye to this blog.

That doesn't mean I've quit running.  As a matter of fact, I've signed up for a triathlon class.  It doesn't mean that I'll quit writing.  I just don't know what format that might be in the future.  I will tell you that, if I start another blog, I will post a link to it on here.

A lot of things happened over the past two years that have changed my life and my way of thinking.  And, everytime I wanted to come back here and write, I couldn't.  It was too hard.  I had nothing to say or, at least, share.  But, it kept bothering me that there was this blog thing I started but, really never quite had closure on. 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed doing this and sharing my experiences with the world.  Along the way, I 'met' people through comments, e-mails, posting on SteveRunner's blog, etc. who eventually 'friended' me on Facebook and, truly, I consider a friend of mine though I never met them face to face.  What a weird, wacky, world we live in.  But, they thought enough about me to do this and I am grateful that they did. 

My idea of starting this blog was to share some of experiences with SteveRunner, traveling, being part of a running group, training for events, etc.  But, life has gotten in the way, that, well, frankly, I'm not that interesting any more.  Steve does a great job on what he does and you should continue listening to his podcast.  I don't travel for work or pleasure as much I used to so, it's not like I can show you places I run when I travel.  And, economics has forced me to take a long, hard look on events I sign up for so, instead of the 14 or so per year I was doing in the past, I only do a handful from time to time. 

Looking back, I had fun with this blog. I used to look forward to doing this and sharing pictures, videos, trying to figure out new ways to make it interesting.  But, when I wasn't writing as much, because of work, family circumstances and other things, I thought it was time to shut this down.  But, it's like saying good-bye to an old friend.  You know you have to but it's a tough thing to do and find the right time to do it.

So, this is my closure.  Those of you, who actually read this throughout its life, I can't thank you enough.  You kept me coming back and wanting to do more.  Those of you who've left comments and told me they enjoyed the blog, I'm still trying to figure out if you were just being polite or if you actually did enjoy it.  :-)  Either way, thank you.

I hope everyone meets their goals in running and life in general.  The number one thing along the way I learned most, whether its running or life, is you are the only thing stopping yourself from achieving your goals.  I KNOW you have or can have the physical capacity to do the things you want to do.  I KNOW IT!!!!  It's convincing yourself that you can.  One of my favorite quotes I read about running (and life) and I'm paraphrasing, 'the courage is not in finishing a marathon but showing up in the first place'.

If I decide to start it up again, I will post where I will be. Peace be with you all. 

2 comments:

Eric said...

Hi Joe. It was fun while it lasted. I do recognize that it is very difficult to keep something like this going regularly. I could never do it. By the way your life is interesting. I have one advantage over your other readers and that is I still will be running with you on Wednesdays. You had a GREAT blog.

Eric

Katbili said...

Thank you for the blog, you had been one of the first running-related blogs I read and kept me running for more back then. Things change, we change, this is how it goes. Wish you all the best whatever you do.