Confession #1 ~ I've never blogged before. Thought about it frequently, but always thought I'd spend way to much time self editing to make it worthwhile. . .
Confession #2 ~ I'm not going to self edit. I'm going to take a cue from my friend Jennifer and just put it out there -- this is therapy for me, after all, not you.
Confession #3 ~ I'm starting to believe I'm a runner. How freaking awesome is that? Pretty damn awesome.
I started running in August of 2009. Brought a new puppy home in June of 2009 and while I would walk him in the morning I would see runners and think "hmmm, can I do that?" I decided when there was no one looking to see if I could. Turns out I could run. Not for very long, but I could run.
Trigger and I would go out and walk each morning and when I had enough courage (and I couldn't see any real runners) I'd run. Run 10 seconds, walk 10 minutes, run 30 seconds, walk 12 minutes. It felt ridiculous, but I liked the feeling of running and Trigger thought it was pretty cool too. Every day we were out there and every day it seemed like I could run for just a little bit longer. It was really amazing.
Trigger is a Mastiff. He's coming up on his second birthday on April 15th. When he was a little puppy he was all about the running. About the time I had progressed to running 3 miles without walking he was almost 1 and 135 pounds. He didn't really run anymore, he lumbered. I still took him with me until the day I set out to run my furthest, approximately 3.5 miles. We had almost reached home, I'd say we were half a mile from home, and Trigger just sat down. "I'm done!" He silently declared. "I'm done!" His stopping so abruptly almost caused me to hit the ground, but I recovered and had a long talk with him. He ultimately won the conversation and we walked the rest of the way home, but not before I told him I'd have to run alone from here on out. He seemed okay with that. Now almost a year later, at 185 pounds he is still content to watch me leave in the morning to run -- "I'll see you for the walk later" his eyes say to me -- I love him so.
So now I run alone. I am a pre-dawn runner. There is nothing like running before the rest of the world is awake (except for that crazy newspaper delivery dude). It's quiet and the air is crisp and cool no matter what season it is. It's the very best part of the day and it never fails to make me feel good.
In early 2010 my ex-brother-in-law told me I should sign up for a race. I told him I wasn't a "real" runner, and couldn't possibly do that. Because the "real" runners would know I was a fake. He told me that was a common reason people didn't sign up and that I should just do it. After a month or so of contemplating that I took his advice and signed up for a 5K. It was the 2010 Answer to Cancer 5K in June. After the race I was totally addicted to long distance running.
By the end of 2010 I had run 5 Half Marathons, 3-5Ks and 2-10Ks, one of which was on a trail -- who knew trails were so much harder??!! It was an awesome running year but all it did was make me want for more in 2011. And here we are in 2011.
It's the end of March and so far I've run a 10K, a Half Marathon and a 15K. But the year has only just begun. I've got many races on my horizon for the year, most notably the Vancouver Marathon in June and the Portland Marathon in October -- but there is so much more. This year is about seeing what more my body can do. If I never try, I'll never know.
Hoping this blog keeps me on track with my training, i.e., running, lifting, nutrition, etc. We shall see.
Next race for me is the U.S. Half Marathon in San Francisco on April 10, 2011. This will be the first race I have ever travelled to and I'm very excited. Excited because I love San Francisco with all my heart and I love running. Putting the two things together seems like the end all, but in truth it is only the beginning.
It's all good.
No comments:
Post a Comment