I have been so lucky. . This body is clearly suited for one thing - from the size of my heart to the diameter of my ankles, running is what I am good for. But I say that I'm lucky not because I was born with this potential to run fast, but rather because from ages 14-30 I knew exactly what I wanted. At an age when my peers were wondering who they were, by a quirk of genetics I got to skip the self loathing teenage years and the quarter life crisis. For those 18 years I woke up every morning with the clear purpose of learning and training and struggling towards becoming the fastest human on the planet. I was brutally hard on myself and I never came close to my goals, but I am so proud to think back on that brave skinny girl and know that she is me. . I retired three years ago at age 30 with nothing on my resume but “runs really fast.” While I’d been living out my irrational dreams on a mountaintop, my peers had been making mistakes and living life. They figured out careers, made money, had babies. I lived out of a suitcase, made barely enough to sustain me, and spent all day refining my body and mind by ever narrowing margins. I felt very lucky, but I knew I was making a tradeoff. I assumed I'd have to go back and collect on the teens' and twenties' angst I'd skipped. . Running is not a practical career move. There is no ladder, no clear way to make all those miles apply to the next stage of life. I would retire with no savings or marketable skills, and the knowledge gained over 18 years would to die with my career. . But that’s not what happened. Instead, I was given the opportunity by NRC to coach you. Think about how gratifying that was: After all those years, I stepped down from the mountain top expecting to find myself without purpose. But on these supposedly mean streets, I learned to be useful. I coached you and you listened. You worked hard. You got faster. We believed in each other. We talked about exercise physiology, sports psychology, race tactics, artistry of the body, history of the sport and bodily respect. I learned that my lifetime of devotion was good for something – that I was good for something.(1/2)