This is about running. And it’s not about running.

It’s been a minute, since I’ve had a run like this. The last time I ran 10K or more was when I ran the Richmond half marathon in November 2019. I took a few weeks off and then started training again for the 10K in April 2020. The last time I got close to a 10K was Feb 23, 2020 right before Covid19 hit and the race got postponed. It was a 6-mile training run at the YMCA.

It’s taken me a while to realize and admit this, but the next 18 months really took a toll on me. I didn’t even realize how much until this past spring when I noticed the impact that the lack of structure and the lack of clarity on the future were having on me mentally, emotionally and physically. I ate and drank too much, and avoided exercise, trying to focus only on work and family, and not doing a great job at either.

This summer, as the realization that another wave of uncertainty was headed our way, I am grateful that I had started paying attention to the signs in my life that the truth is that I can’t change the past and I can’t control or predict the future, the only thing I can affect is now. Love this moment wholly, embrace it, and live it moment by moment as best as I can, on purpose.

Kind of like running.

So a month ago, I decided I had enough and wanted to embrace the uncertainty by focusing on the present. I started to run again, joining my wife on the #75Hard mental and physical training program, and committing to run the 8K in November. I’m grateful for the progress so far.

When I started my running journey in 2018, I wrote often about the point when I realized I was becoming a runner. And then after my extended break, I felt ashamed that I was no longer a runner.

The truth is, I was, am, and will always be a runner. Just going through different stages of the race. And that’s what I realized on my 10K run this morning. So much gratitude. It was the best run I’ve ever had, not the fastest but by far my most consistent and in control. I didn’t think I’d run all the way without stopping but that’s exactly what I did. And with every step, I let go. Of the past. Of the future. Of the next 100 meters, of the next mile, of the next run, the next deal, the next client, the next project, the last struggle, the last race, the last success. I let go and let the present have its way with me, trusting that intention and preparation would take care of the rest.

And I finished “a better version of myself.”

So don’t call it a comeback. Just call it a “here I am.” Not about what I was, or what I will be. Just what I am. Today.

What can you do — what can we do — to be a better version of ourselves as leaders, servants, colleagues and business partners — today?