Readers, I didn’t have it on my 2025 bingo card, but recently I spent my last day in the office as a federal employee. It was an unexpected transition that came about in an unexpected way after more than two decades of civil service.
Two decades! When I first started out as a fed, my focus was to pay off student loans, become vested in the retirement plan, and then head off to do something else.
Little did I know that more 20 years would pass before that happened.
I have held various roles and worked at five federal agencies over my career. I’ve been fortunate in the ways I have been able to contribute as a civil servant and to grow professionally through work.
Yes, office politics and archetypes live everywhere. Still, I am lucky to say I had mentors who invested their energy into expanding my career skill set, as well as colleagues who made work stimulating, rewarding, and sometimes even fun. I’ve met interesting, smart, community-minded people throughout.
The little me from rural Iowa could not have fathomed this future. I am a better citizen as a result of what these 20+ years taught me, as well as what I gave to them.
Because my federal career meant so much on many levels I wanted to acknowledge it in a unique way. In the past I’ve ridden my age in miles on my birthday, and I enjoy seeing how others recognize their own milestones through rides or other non-monetary creative ways.
To bookend this part of my life – more than a chapter, less than a tome – I dedicated my first day of not working to walk/running a mile for each year of federal service. Then I thought I’d give myself some bonus steps and make it an even 26.2 miles, marathon distance.
I told no one about my plan and went solo. Some endings are hard and the emotions complicated. I sought space and motion to start piecing through this one, as well as to recognize the accomplishment in my own way.
I chose the C&O Canal for my route. Flat, occasional shade, and the unpaved surface made it easier on the body than city pavement. The towpath was warm and quiet.
It was a day where I felt so inside my body. Strong and healthy. I could have kept going forever. I love those days, and they don’t happen often.
I walked and let my mind go. Burned off stress from the previous months. Ran and reflected. It was slow going yet I was steady, each mile flowing through and past me.
A marathon distance for an almost-marathon career. It felt right. It was the slowest marathon of my running life (6:10:42), but that didn’t matter.
This run wasn’t about personal time records, it was about bigger life things, running through my made-up finishing tape, and recognizing a career I cared so much about.
My feet moved over the towpath’s sandy surface. Hours passed.
I ran the years of my federal career, then added a couple of extra miles into the running bank. For future me, wherever I go next.
26.2. I headed home.
Chasing Mailboxes 