I’ve been running. And though that may not sound like such a big deal to some people, it is to me.
See, I was the kid in high school who could barely run a mile, and hated every single one of those 5,280 feet. I did sports that didn’t require me to run a lot (tennis, figure skating, golf, biking). My idea of exercise was, well, non-existent. I didn’t care about fitness, about being healthy, or about taking care of my body. It wasn’t that I was grossly overweight, but I wasn’t healthy.
And so a few years ago – when I was on the World Race, actually, I started running. First it was just an escape – a chance to get away from my teammates, from our ministry contacts, from anything that was weighing me down. Then I got home from the race and ran my first road race – a 5k. And you know what? I kind of liked it! So for the past 4 years, I’ve been running off-and-on. Not usually very consistently (especially when I moved to Colorado – the altitude there really messed with my lung function!), but I kept plodding along. Last spring my brother and I tossed the idea of running a marathon around – I thought, “hey, why not? what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger, right?” Needless to say, he did a marathon this fall. I did not. (See how well I kept up with running?) I am training for a 1/2 marathon now, though – we'll see how that goes!
(that's my brother in the middle – this is at about 20 miles and he doesn't even look winded!)
The thing is, though, even though I’ve always wanted to run faster my pace wasn’t increasing. At all. I could consistently run a ten-minute mile (and I know, all of you “real” runners out there are saying that’s barely even running…but it was a great pace for me), but I wasn’t getting faster. Until this past week. Suddenly, something in me broke free, and I’ve been running consistently faster. I don’t know if it’s the cooler weather (something in me just wants to be done sooner so I can get back inside & jump into a warm shower faster), if it’s the fact that I’ve been running with my roommate, who is a faster runner than I am, or if it was something else entirely. What I do know is that I’ve gotten my motivation back to run. I got over the ten-minute-mile plateau and am excited about this faster pace, this new level of running, if you will. I no longer have to say “I can’t run any faster than this” because I can. I’ve done it. More than once.
So while running may still not be my favorite activity in the world, I’ve gotten to a place where it is once again enjoyable. And that is a small victory!
(just a little gem I found on pintrest. I think it's probably pretty true!)
Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow: support account miracles!
