Yes yes...I'm a day late on the National Running Day. I figured since this blog will soon be nothing about running, I should have posted something, but I just didn't have the time. I did run yesterday though...
I went to runningday.org just to find out more information about the day. It is held the first Wednesday in June, and it allows runners, new or veterans, to celebrate the sport. Growing up, I always had a love-hate relationship with running. The only time I would ever run would be because I was playing a sport (i.e. soccer, basketball, etc...). I never just went and ran. And the times that I would, I would do it, maybe once or twice, and then find excuse after excuse to never do it again. I always called myself a sprinter. That's what I was good at, but when it came to long distances...haha....I'll meet you back here at start. If running wasn't intertwined with a sport, like the 1 mile for the fitness test, it was a state of embarrassment. My classmates finishing the mile in under 10 minutes, and I was still going. My only goal during the mile run was not to get lapped. It was discouraging as the teacher just shook their head as they wrote down my lap times and then at the end, forcing the other kids to "cheer" me on. That was the last thing I wanted. People to notice that I was the slow one.
Now, I've been running for the past 10 months. What got me started was my wife. One day, I was standing in front of the mirror, and I was complaining that my legs weren't looking any thinner. At that point, I had lost 40 lbs, but I felt that it was all in my upper body. She looked at me, and said, "Maybe you should start running." And so I did. I picked my first goal of the Long Beach Half Marathon, and now, three half marathons down and planning on starting my training for the Full marathon.
I look back now at my childhood and even through high school and college where my coaches "highly recommended" that we should be running and training in the off-season, that I wish I had believed in myself more back then. I wish I knew that I could have prepared myself for that 1 mile or the 3 mile run for lacrosse in college. I could have done that. I could have accomplished that.
Do I think I missed out? No. I still participated sports and made Varsity and loved every part of the practices and games. What I think I missed was enjoying the ride. I'm glad now that I have confidence in my ability as an athlete. I love telling people that I went running and I ran 8 miles. I just did it. Just because I wanted to. And as I try to encourage other people to start walking/running or just working out, I just tell them that it takes a plan and an ounce of determination. If you start with a plan that isn't daunting and manageable, then there is no way the excuses can creep in and sabotage you.
So I say make it National Running Week!! Oh...never mind. I just looked it up, and we totally missed that week. Ooops... Regardless, summer is coming (unless you live in Southern California, then summer seems delayed right now), and our goal is to feel great in our clothes. = )
wahoo celebrating running!
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