Just Say No To FOMO

Looking at my life from the outside you would think I don't miss out on a heck of a lot.  And at the end of the day, I have a lot of fun, I'm always out skiing or hiking or going to yoga, just to name a few things. At the same time, I miss out on the kinds of things that take more focused attention.

Once upon a time I ran a few marathons.  I was in pretty good shape, and I had a lot of fun.  A few major (and in my opinion legitimate) obstacles got in my way and long story short I haven't run a marathon in eight years.  At the end of the day, I find myself missing something about marathons, like somehow marathons are the one who got away.

Seriously, I've been thinking a lot about marathon running lately - searching for races, looking at training plans, trying to see how those plans might fit into my life.  Of course this is bringing out my FOMO - if I'm marathon training am I missing out on other fun things like boxing, Orangetheory, or hiking?  But then there's this fear - will I be disappointed to go another year without feeling the accomplishment of running a marathon?  Is there a way to find a balance between focused training and having fun?

I am trying to adopt the theory that running is a skill I need in order to thrive at other sports in my life - I need the endurance to compete in other ways.  I need a base fitness level to achieve some of my crazier goals (see also: mountain running, just to name one) - and I believe that getting into marathon shape will benefit me in two ways: (1) brining my training into focus, and (2) getting me in better shape and mindset to tackle bigger challenges.

When the training gets tough, please remind me that there are big picture benefits that I may be forgetting about!