After I wrote an essay for Outside about how I trained for a marathon while living with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a chronic nervous system disorder, a lot of people messaged me saying my story inspired them to try running again.
I’ve gotten a lot of messages like this over the last two years. Most of these people don’t have POTS, but they relate to feeling too slow or too different to consider themselves a “real” runner. My experience gave them permission to challenge that narrative.
Running with a chronic illness is different, but the way I run is pretty normal. Most runners are slow. Most of us will never get close to winning a race, and most of us aren’t trying to do that at all. I’m definitely closer to the average runner than someone competing at the Olympics.
I’ve said that I’m not a stereotypical runner, but I think our stereotypes about runners are changing. I’m starting this newsletter to do my small part to accelerate that. I’ll be documenting my training for Relay Iowa (a 339 mile relay race), two marathons, and regularly running with my friends here. You can expect a lot of talk about chronic illness, running groups, joy, and the societal norms that prevent us from enjoying exercise.
What you can’t expect is directly applicable, personal advice on how to run. I’m not a medical professional nor a running coach. My expertise is solely on what it’s like to have my specific body. We all run differently, and there’s a lot of variation in what POTS and other chronic conditions look and feel like.
I’m going to keep everything free for now, but if you’d like to become a paid subscriber, I’d really appreciate it. Running shoes are expensive!