Are you laughing at the title as hard as I am..? Me? Me a runner? Now, that is comical. Let's just say that growing up, I was known to be a sitter, a lie-downer, a tv-watcher, but never a runner. I would do just about anything to avoid running. Things like fake injury during basketball season, (I tried, I really did, but all that r.u.n.n.i.n.g... ugh.) choosing the closest spot to hide during hide-and-go-seek, and then begging my grandma to teach me how to sew, so I could just stay inside and not do any of that running. I also hated the idea of Soccer, tag, cross country (shudder)... I played sports like Volleyball, and Softball. Yes, there's some running in Softball I know, but in my mind that was a manageable distance and since I played Pitcher, there wouldn't be any running during defense. Get it? I never liked anything that had to do with all that moving around stuff.
Fast Forward... 40+ years and here I am. I still wouldn't consider myself a "true" runner, as I don't run fast, far, or even all that often, but I do manage to put one foot in front of the other 2-3 times a week for a minimum of 2.0 miles each time. My pace is laughable to most people, but for me, it works. Mostly I'm a very competitive person, but when it comes to this, all I want to do is "keep it up." I don't need to beat my time, or go further and further and further, I just want to move my body, keep it moving and feel like I've pushed myself just enough to keep healthy. And that's working out just fine for me.
To prod my motivation though I have found that I do need something to work towards, like a goal of some sort. Just getting out there to run for the sake of running, not my thing. This was proven to me after the whole Ragnar event last year... that thing scared the living poo out of me prior to and during, so there I was in full blast training mode, learning to run. Then who knew, but I did it, and got 'er done. Once it was all over though, I pretty much fell off the wagon. This year, things just didn't work out and I won't be participating again, but I decided to just do some smaller races to at least have something to look forward to and train for. It really is amazing the mind games we play with ourselves, because once I officially signed up, I instantly had the desire to start working harder.
Upcoming in April: Peace-Love-Run... in San Diego. This is a 5k, but check out the medal. It's like a prize and I want it.
Upcoming in May: Girls on the Go Run... also in San Diego. This is a full marathon, (NO, I'm not doing that, are you f'n crazy?) I'm just going to do the 10k.
So, if you see me out there "running." Stop laughing, because I'm already doing enough of that for the both of us.
Fast Forward... 40+ years and here I am. I still wouldn't consider myself a "true" runner, as I don't run fast, far, or even all that often, but I do manage to put one foot in front of the other 2-3 times a week for a minimum of 2.0 miles each time. My pace is laughable to most people, but for me, it works. Mostly I'm a very competitive person, but when it comes to this, all I want to do is "keep it up." I don't need to beat my time, or go further and further and further, I just want to move my body, keep it moving and feel like I've pushed myself just enough to keep healthy. And that's working out just fine for me.
To prod my motivation though I have found that I do need something to work towards, like a goal of some sort. Just getting out there to run for the sake of running, not my thing. This was proven to me after the whole Ragnar event last year... that thing scared the living poo out of me prior to and during, so there I was in full blast training mode, learning to run. Then who knew, but I did it, and got 'er done. Once it was all over though, I pretty much fell off the wagon. This year, things just didn't work out and I won't be participating again, but I decided to just do some smaller races to at least have something to look forward to and train for. It really is amazing the mind games we play with ourselves, because once I officially signed up, I instantly had the desire to start working harder.
Upcoming in April: Peace-Love-Run... in San Diego. This is a 5k, but check out the medal. It's like a prize and I want it.
Upcoming in May: Girls on the Go Run... also in San Diego. This is a full marathon, (NO, I'm not doing that, are you f'n crazy?) I'm just going to do the 10k.
So, if you see me out there "running." Stop laughing, because I'm already doing enough of that for the both of us.
