Oh For the Love of Running!
Over the weekend myself, Brad, and two friends of ours ran the Rock n Roll Marathon as a relay team this past weekend. It was simply about fun and just doing it. Our combined time for the 26.2 miles was about 3 hours and 30 minutes. We came in 53rd place out of 350 teams. Not bad if I do say so myself. I ran the first leg which was 6.5 miles in 60 minutes (I could have pushed it just a little more), Brad ran the second which was 7 miles in 59 minutes, our friend Steve ran the third which was 8 miles in 55 minutes (he is a really fast runner), and his wife Kerry ran the fourth leg at 4.8 miles in 42 minutes (all times are approximate). We had a blast and I really would love to do it next year.
Now you may be asking yourself why all of this running? Well to put it simply I have been bitten by the running bug and I am now (gasp) a runner. Who knew that the girl who walked the mile in p.e. class would now be running, for fun, and paying to do it? Growing up I remember being told I wasn’t a runner, I was too big to be a runner, I had inherited bad knees (this much is true), I was an athlete, not a runner. Now I know running is the most difficult of all of the sports I have ever been a part of. I have also come to realize that no matter what your size or how old you are, if you want something bad enough and believe in yourself just a little bit than anything is possible, even running.
I started running about 4 years ago, through cross training, to lose weight. I would run 5 minutes, which at that point wasn’t even half a mile and then I would lift weights, then I would run another 5 minutes, lift, and repeat the sequence until I had run a total of 30 minutes. My pace was a snails pace but I was doing it. I didn’t start running just to run until I didn’t have time to cross train anymore, something had to give so I would just run. I am now addicted to running, while it isn’t free, shoes, dry wicking clothing, and races, they all cost money, it is therapeutic. Running has also given me the benefit of being in the best shape (not computed by the weight on the scale or the size of my clothing) and the healthiest I have ever been. When I am done with a difficult run, either because of the mileage I am racking up or because I am too tired to run that day, I always feel accomplished afterward. It is something that I do strictly for me and I actually prefer to do it alone. Now since I am so competitive, even with myself, I have run for far longer than I ever really intend to. I always set my mileage goal at the start of the run and more often than not I will run an extra mile or two just to break my original goal. Thus far I have run in two 5k’s, a 10k, and 13.1 miles or the equivalent to a half-marathon (on the treadmill), and I am training for my first official race half this fall. I log anywhere from 20 to 25 miles per week.
Simply put, I LOVE to run, I LOVE how it makes me sweat, I LOVE how it is just me and the road (or the treadmill), I LOVE how my biggest competition is always myself and my mindset, I LOVE how it makes my body feel weary and exhausted when I am done, I love the sense of accomplishment that it brings to me, and I LOVE saying that I am a runner.
Over the weekend myself, Brad, and two friends of ours ran the Rock n Roll Marathon as a relay team this past weekend. It was simply about fun and just doing it. Our combined time for the 26.2 miles was about 3 hours and 30 minutes. We came in 53rd place out of 350 teams. Not bad if I do say so myself. I ran the first leg which was 6.5 miles in 60 minutes (I could have pushed it just a little more), Brad ran the second which was 7 miles in 59 minutes, our friend Steve ran the third which was 8 miles in 55 minutes (he is a really fast runner), and his wife Kerry ran the fourth leg at 4.8 miles in 42 minutes (all times are approximate). We had a blast and I really would love to do it next year.
Now you may be asking yourself why all of this running? Well to put it simply I have been bitten by the running bug and I am now (gasp) a runner. Who knew that the girl who walked the mile in p.e. class would now be running, for fun, and paying to do it? Growing up I remember being told I wasn’t a runner, I was too big to be a runner, I had inherited bad knees (this much is true), I was an athlete, not a runner. Now I know running is the most difficult of all of the sports I have ever been a part of. I have also come to realize that no matter what your size or how old you are, if you want something bad enough and believe in yourself just a little bit than anything is possible, even running.
I started running about 4 years ago, through cross training, to lose weight. I would run 5 minutes, which at that point wasn’t even half a mile and then I would lift weights, then I would run another 5 minutes, lift, and repeat the sequence until I had run a total of 30 minutes. My pace was a snails pace but I was doing it. I didn’t start running just to run until I didn’t have time to cross train anymore, something had to give so I would just run. I am now addicted to running, while it isn’t free, shoes, dry wicking clothing, and races, they all cost money, it is therapeutic. Running has also given me the benefit of being in the best shape (not computed by the weight on the scale or the size of my clothing) and the healthiest I have ever been. When I am done with a difficult run, either because of the mileage I am racking up or because I am too tired to run that day, I always feel accomplished afterward. It is something that I do strictly for me and I actually prefer to do it alone. Now since I am so competitive, even with myself, I have run for far longer than I ever really intend to. I always set my mileage goal at the start of the run and more often than not I will run an extra mile or two just to break my original goal. Thus far I have run in two 5k’s, a 10k, and 13.1 miles or the equivalent to a half-marathon (on the treadmill), and I am training for my first official race half this fall. I log anywhere from 20 to 25 miles per week.
Simply put, I LOVE to run, I LOVE how it makes me sweat, I LOVE how it is just me and the road (or the treadmill), I LOVE how my biggest competition is always myself and my mindset, I LOVE how it makes my body feel weary and exhausted when I am done, I love the sense of accomplishment that it brings to me, and I LOVE saying that I am a runner.
