A question of careers
ca·reer
/kəˈrir/Submit
noun
1. an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
synonyms: profession, occupation, job, vocation, calling, employment, line, line of work, walk of life, métier
"a business career"
I was asked the other day why people used the term “career” to describe their running. The question took me aback - I’m as guilty as the next runner in regards to calling it a running career. It’s not my job - never has been and I never fell into trap of thinking if I pushed hard enough I’d be able to support myself running. Like most questions though, after I fumbled through an answer, I had to think about it more. And break out my dictionary!
In the colloquial use of career, there’s many similarities between runners and employees. When you are young, the focus is on advancement. As a runner, I took advancement to mean getting faster. As such, there was a singular focus when approaching races and I’m sure I missed a few things along the way. The focus on speed paid off though, with ever improving times and the “perks” that occasionally come with those times. In the dictionary definition, I was meeting the ideals of a career. It was an undertaking for an extended duration with the opportunity for progress. It wasn’t my job, but still a career of sorts.
Then comes the next phase of any career - long term growth. As a young runner in my 20s, there was the sense of invincibility in the movement and the inevitable creep of age was far from my mind. I would be able to run this speed for years. But we all know better. So as a runner, if the times aren’t getting faster, what is next? I still focused on the times in my races, but now it was also the experience. The journeys and the people who made up the journey. To me, this is when I started really developing as a runner - when I realized that if I wanted to be a lifelong runner it had to be about more then just speed. That transition characterized my 30s. The struggle between “I used to be fast! What happened?” and “there’s more to the race then just finishing first.” I think the Brewer’s Cup helped with that - by forcing me out of my solitary bubble and exposing me to all sorts of runners. All of those runners considered their years of racing as a running career. There is alway the opportunity for progress. It might not be a job to any of us, but it is still a career!
And now I stand on the verge of Masters Status. I’m racing against kids almost half my age - the young punk I used to be! It’s just another chapter to be written - but one that is colored by 20 years of experience. And this chapter still has the opportunity for progress. It will not be about the ever faster times of my youth however. As with any career, I’ve learned from those who came before. Speed is relative and there is more to running then just going fast. It is those lessons, along with the 100s of races I’ve done that establishes my running as a career. It’s not just the results or the times - it’s the growth over the years.
/kəˈrir/Submit
noun
1. an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
synonyms: profession, occupation, job, vocation, calling, employment, line, line of work, walk of life, métier
"a business career"
I was asked the other day why people used the term “career” to describe their running. The question took me aback - I’m as guilty as the next runner in regards to calling it a running career. It’s not my job - never has been and I never fell into trap of thinking if I pushed hard enough I’d be able to support myself running. Like most questions though, after I fumbled through an answer, I had to think about it more. And break out my dictionary!
In the colloquial use of career, there’s many similarities between runners and employees. When you are young, the focus is on advancement. As a runner, I took advancement to mean getting faster. As such, there was a singular focus when approaching races and I’m sure I missed a few things along the way. The focus on speed paid off though, with ever improving times and the “perks” that occasionally come with those times. In the dictionary definition, I was meeting the ideals of a career. It was an undertaking for an extended duration with the opportunity for progress. It wasn’t my job, but still a career of sorts.
Then comes the next phase of any career - long term growth. As a young runner in my 20s, there was the sense of invincibility in the movement and the inevitable creep of age was far from my mind. I would be able to run this speed for years. But we all know better. So as a runner, if the times aren’t getting faster, what is next? I still focused on the times in my races, but now it was also the experience. The journeys and the people who made up the journey. To me, this is when I started really developing as a runner - when I realized that if I wanted to be a lifelong runner it had to be about more then just speed. That transition characterized my 30s. The struggle between “I used to be fast! What happened?” and “there’s more to the race then just finishing first.” I think the Brewer’s Cup helped with that - by forcing me out of my solitary bubble and exposing me to all sorts of runners. All of those runners considered their years of racing as a running career. There is alway the opportunity for progress. It might not be a job to any of us, but it is still a career!
And now I stand on the verge of Masters Status. I’m racing against kids almost half my age - the young punk I used to be! It’s just another chapter to be written - but one that is colored by 20 years of experience. And this chapter still has the opportunity for progress. It will not be about the ever faster times of my youth however. As with any career, I’ve learned from those who came before. Speed is relative and there is more to running then just going fast. It is those lessons, along with the 100s of races I’ve done that establishes my running as a career. It’s not just the results or the times - it’s the growth over the years.
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