I ran another 18km on Sunday. I'm still amazed that I did it. I'm less amazed that I went home and sat on the couch and moaned afterwards. But I did it!
I was thinking while I ran. At one point, as I was running near the parking lot at the entrance to Fish Creek (the one off Bannister), I was thinking about progression. I have wanted to know what the attraction is with running for the last 10 years. I used to work with a very fit group of people back home whose main exercise choices included running and cycling. Back then, I tried to learn how to run by myself. I watched those guys run and thought I could do it if I just did it. I failed. I ran 4km one time as my leg of the 24 hour relay in Vancouver and thought I was going to die. In fact, I was sore for almost a week afterwords. I have a photo that was taken the day after the run and I look like a puffy chunk of luncheon meat. Not pretty. Stairs really sucked that week.
So I continued to think about running and tried it from time to time. I commuted 3 hours a day at that point in my life and was dating a VERY out of shape fellow whose only exercise was the bicep curl that brought beer to his mouth. You know the one. Anyway, those were all my excuses back then.
After I got married, exercise wasn't part of our lives. We hung out with friends with whom we had great times, but the great times revolved almost entirely around beer and fried food.
Then, almost three years ago, I participated in a learn to run clinic with The Big Rock Runners. They were pretty cool. There are some serious runners involved in that group, yet they took the time to come to the learn to run clinic and tell us about why they love running ('cause you get to eat more chips) and why we should too (still learning about that one). I learned a lot about how and why and what to wear (the best piece of advice I got early on was about socks - that's a post in itself!). I ran a little bit over the next eight months, but still really didn't get it.
Then I started training for my first 10km race. The race was the Forzani Mother's Day race in 2008. So I ran on my treadmill in my basement for the prescribed distances and run/walk times during that winter. I started in January 2008. No one in our group of friends understood why I was doing this to myself. I lost about 25 pounds and trained ALONE. It was miserable. I did the race and placed 1677/1684 for the 5km run (http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2008/run/ForzaniMothers5k2008.html). I was registered for the 5km because, even though I trained, I didn't think I could run 10km. I actually ran 10km because I changed my mind during the race when I saw the turnoff for the 5km loop and didn't want to go with them. I was PUMPED when I got home! I was the only one who understood why this was such a big deal. I felt like a million bucks, even though it wasn't a very fast time. I wasn't sore and I had a great vacation.
I also ran the Sheep River Road Race on Labor Day weekend in 2008. Again, I ran alone. My husband and son met me at the finish line, but I ran very much alone. I hadn't kept up my training over the summer and so my hips were killing me by the end of the race and I had a really hard time over the next couple of weeks.
In the spring of 2009, I ran to escape. I didn't care about mileage, run/walk cycles or gear. I literally ran to get out of the house and away from life. It was something about my life that I could control when everything else was out of my control. By the beginning of 2009, I had gained back the 25 pounds that I lost the year before. By the end of the summer of 2009, I had lost those 25 pounds again, plus another 10 more. Physically, I felt great because of the weight loss. Mentally, I only felt sort of OK while I ran. So I ran some more to feel better.
I had finally found my reason to run. I had finally figured out the secret it took me 10 years to find. For me, I run to save my life. Now, I need to run. I didn't truly NEED it before. That's the secret.
I have a lot of blessings in my life; my son, my family, my work. I roll problems around in my head while I run. It helps me make better decisions.
Over the past three years, I have come to consider myself a runner. I didn't think of myself as a runner until I realized that it's part of who I am now and I can't be entirely me without it. It's amazing how things change.
In the past three years, I lost 25 pounds, gained 25 pounds, lost 35 pounds, ramped up my mileage to over 30 km a week from nothing and have a new dimension to my life that I can't imagine living without. I hadn't intended this to be so long and mushy, but sometimes I just get carried away. There you have it.
I was thinking while I ran. At one point, as I was running near the parking lot at the entrance to Fish Creek (the one off Bannister), I was thinking about progression. I have wanted to know what the attraction is with running for the last 10 years. I used to work with a very fit group of people back home whose main exercise choices included running and cycling. Back then, I tried to learn how to run by myself. I watched those guys run and thought I could do it if I just did it. I failed. I ran 4km one time as my leg of the 24 hour relay in Vancouver and thought I was going to die. In fact, I was sore for almost a week afterwords. I have a photo that was taken the day after the run and I look like a puffy chunk of luncheon meat. Not pretty. Stairs really sucked that week.
So I continued to think about running and tried it from time to time. I commuted 3 hours a day at that point in my life and was dating a VERY out of shape fellow whose only exercise was the bicep curl that brought beer to his mouth. You know the one. Anyway, those were all my excuses back then.
After I got married, exercise wasn't part of our lives. We hung out with friends with whom we had great times, but the great times revolved almost entirely around beer and fried food.
Then, almost three years ago, I participated in a learn to run clinic with The Big Rock Runners. They were pretty cool. There are some serious runners involved in that group, yet they took the time to come to the learn to run clinic and tell us about why they love running ('cause you get to eat more chips) and why we should too (still learning about that one). I learned a lot about how and why and what to wear (the best piece of advice I got early on was about socks - that's a post in itself!). I ran a little bit over the next eight months, but still really didn't get it.
Then I started training for my first 10km race. The race was the Forzani Mother's Day race in 2008. So I ran on my treadmill in my basement for the prescribed distances and run/walk times during that winter. I started in January 2008. No one in our group of friends understood why I was doing this to myself. I lost about 25 pounds and trained ALONE. It was miserable. I did the race and placed 1677/1684 for the 5km run (http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2008/run/ForzaniMothers5k2008.html). I was registered for the 5km because, even though I trained, I didn't think I could run 10km. I actually ran 10km because I changed my mind during the race when I saw the turnoff for the 5km loop and didn't want to go with them. I was PUMPED when I got home! I was the only one who understood why this was such a big deal. I felt like a million bucks, even though it wasn't a very fast time. I wasn't sore and I had a great vacation.
I also ran the Sheep River Road Race on Labor Day weekend in 2008. Again, I ran alone. My husband and son met me at the finish line, but I ran very much alone. I hadn't kept up my training over the summer and so my hips were killing me by the end of the race and I had a really hard time over the next couple of weeks.
In the spring of 2009, I ran to escape. I didn't care about mileage, run/walk cycles or gear. I literally ran to get out of the house and away from life. It was something about my life that I could control when everything else was out of my control. By the beginning of 2009, I had gained back the 25 pounds that I lost the year before. By the end of the summer of 2009, I had lost those 25 pounds again, plus another 10 more. Physically, I felt great because of the weight loss. Mentally, I only felt sort of OK while I ran. So I ran some more to feel better.
I had finally found my reason to run. I had finally figured out the secret it took me 10 years to find. For me, I run to save my life. Now, I need to run. I didn't truly NEED it before. That's the secret.
I have a lot of blessings in my life; my son, my family, my work. I roll problems around in my head while I run. It helps me make better decisions.
Over the past three years, I have come to consider myself a runner. I didn't think of myself as a runner until I realized that it's part of who I am now and I can't be entirely me without it. It's amazing how things change.
In the past three years, I lost 25 pounds, gained 25 pounds, lost 35 pounds, ramped up my mileage to over 30 km a week from nothing and have a new dimension to my life that I can't imagine living without. I hadn't intended this to be so long and mushy, but sometimes I just get carried away. There you have it.
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