One of my big goals for 2024 is to run a marathon.
I ran the Jersey City half for the first time back in September of last year and since then I've had the running bug. I love the self-improvement you get from running, the discipline it requires, and I am so deep into running shoe TikTok I am border-line obsessed.
But this is a new thing for me. When I was younger I hated running. I was painfully slow, and even had the unfortunate nickname "the Fridge" in little league because I literally ran the bases as if I had a refrigerator strapped on my back.
I've been fortunate enough to reconnect with an old coach and mentor of mine, Dave Collins, (who also happens to be a mentor to me in the baseball card world) and he has been incredibly gracious in teaching me the ropes in what it takes to be a great runner.
Today Dave and I ran the longest run I've had since my half marathon in September, a 10 miler that was meant to push my fastest time since I started getting more serious about my training. (I was hoping to be at a 8:15-8:20 pace, which was right where I did the half at.)
But we had a third runner with us today, which actually became the inspiration for this blog.
We also ran with 73 year-old Bill Bosmann, a long time friend and fellow runner of Dave's.
If you were to take a look Bill's Strava Account (Strava is an app that tracks your running and fitness goals, I highly recommend) you will see that Bill casually has ran 57 miles this week. You will also see that he has ran a 4:12 marathon in Philly a year ago, (Average Page of 9:32 per mile) and is running in the Boston Marathon this April.
He's ran over 25 marathons and isn't planning on stopping any time soon.
As we kicked off our run, I was absolutely mind-blown by this man. The idea that someone at his age, running those distances, at those times, was stunning to me. I had to ask him some questions:
Me - "I assume you have been running your whole life?"
Bill- "No, not really. I didn't start running seriously until I was 40."
This is still sitting with me.
I am writing this at the age of 27 years old. The idea that you can wait my ENTIRE life time, and then another THIRTEEN YEARS before even STARTING to run, and still achieve this massive level of success at something completely new to you is incredibly difficult to wrap my head around.
Check out Bill's Racing and Running History:
Throughout the run today my mind would continue to drift on how much time we have to accomplish our goals and our find our passions.
I recently wrote about my decision to resign from my full time job at Michael Page last week to purse my passions and interests and continue to focus on my health and well being. I'll be writing more about this decision and what my new entrepreneurial journey will look like in the coming weeks ahead.
But the process I took to get to that decision was difficult. I was really hard on myself for a while.
I was a pretty good recruiter. I wasn't bad at my job by any means.
But I wasn't enjoying it anymore. I couldn't find that passion I need to have in my work to enjoy it.
And Michael Page was my 4th job I've had in the corporate world since I graduated school in 2018. I was really beating myself up over having another job that felt like "didn't work out".
But then I got back to realizing how much time I have to figure out what my thing is going to be.
The fact is the next thing I take a swing at might not end up being a home run. But that's okay. Because there's always going to be another pitch.
It took Bill 40 years to find out he was a damn good runner.
He's still out there 33 years later pounding pavement every day.
If you are in a spot in your life where you can't seem to find your groove- don't quit now. Keep going. Keep trying new things. Follow the things that give you joy, make you curious, and give you energy.
No one knows how long it will take until you find your passion. The truth is, the journey of finding your passion is often times more valuable than the end destination itself.
Just keep goin'.
