One of the most popular questions that we ask other runners is the question of, “what’s next?”
I’m going to be honest and declare that I have a love / hate relationship with this question. This stems from the moment I finished my 17th and final marathon of 2017, after running races around Australia to raise money and awareness for the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. I had put myself through a lot physically and emotionally that year, particularly for that final marathon. I was relieved and elated to be finished the running and fundraising challenge, but within 2 minutes of finishing, I was being asked, "what’s next?" For some reason, it felt almost criminal to take anything away from that moment and from the sense of achievement, by simply moving on. Don’t get me wrong, I already knew what was next for me, but for some reason I reacted against the assertion that there needed to be something next and that I couldn’t simply enjoy this particular moment for what it was.
Since then, this question has continued to intrigue me. It has become a stock-standard question for us runners, which fills a gap in any conversation and sits comfortably alongside “how’s your training going? and “how did you pull up from your last race? Whilst the question may have become normalised and part of every day runner chat, the answers that we give are the exact opposite. We answer with exotic events like the Great Wall of China, Boston, London, Tokyo, Melbourne, Marathon des Sables, and Antarctica… An endless list of amazing places, experiences and events that will influence our world views and large chunks of our lives. Our answers to this short, simple question reflect our ambitions, our want to travel and explore, our goals and our levels of commitment. Our answers also determine our future holidays, work projects, financial planning, and daily priorities. In short, these answers are a window into what life has in store for us over the coming weeks, months and even years.
Much like my own experience in 2017, I find myself asking this question most often to people who have just completed an event. Before the sweat has even dried on their latest effort, we are looking onwards to the next adventure. Most of the time, that’s fine. Most runners I know are planners and dreamers who are inspired and excited by all of these potential adventures and running opportunities. They are usually a couple of steps ahead of the question and have something already lined up. Occasionally however, I feel like asking this question can cut short our enjoyment of the present. You know that unique post-event feeling, where we can wear our medals to the post run meal, when we are overly tired, but still have the energy to recall every detail of our run to anyone who will listen, when we take pride in our own efforts and others are in awe of what we have achieved. These moments give us so much, that we should be careful not to pass them over too quickly.
When we do take the time to savour the moment, rest assured that the question of 'what’s next?' will still come, so it’s worth thinking through how we know what is the right 'what’s next?' for us. I am a firm believer that our answers, should give us goosebumps, should make us excited and even a little scared, even if our answer is not running related. Our goosebumps are a sign that a challenge worthy of our time and energy awaits us. They are a sign that you care enough to sacrifice and put yourself through a little pain to get there. They are a sign that your imagination is alive and well and as a result, so are you. That is when you know you are on to something special.
Savouring the moments in the aftermath of our latest event and having a new goosebumps-inducing challenge to motivate us, allows us to move on whole-heartedly to whatever is next. In my case, just writing this article has given me goosebumps about the challenges that might await next year….