Ahhh... my on/off relationship with running. Its back on! But a little review...I started running in high school, kind of by accident. I had 2 PE classes in the same semester in 10th grade... one of the classes was all boys and I noticed that I was faster than most of them. My PE teacher was also the track coach and he encouraged me to go out for track. I was extremely shy, so it was out of my comfort zone, but for some reason, I felt okay about doing it. Imagine my surprise when I came in first in the first race I ever ran. It was a 200m and there were 2 heats. I was in shock... and I realized I must have beed kind of was fast because the girl who won the other heat came across the stadium to walk by me and stare me down. I was like, "she even thinks I'm fast"...wow! Unfortunately, my speed didn't last too much longer. I couldn't afford track shoes, so I blew out my knees running in stupid nike cortezs. Cute shoes, but no support.
My coach bought me new track shoes and I was able to keep running, but I had to switch to middle distances to give my knees a chance to heal. My new events became the 400, 800 and 1600 relay. I also started running cross-country in the off-season which opened up a whole new world to me and I realized that I could actually change to enjoy not only the explosive power of sprinting, but the rhythmic calmness of longer distance runs.
So over the years I have continued to run - mostly when I am trying to take off the baby weight. I got consistent (again) about a year ago when my husband wanted to start running. We ran together for about 6 months and ran a couple of 5K races, then he was tired of it. I kept it up a little, but when my sister-in-law told me about a beautiful half marathon she had run...it got me excited about actually training to run something longer. Then my neighbor invited me to run the Thanksgiving Point 10 K. The course was beautiful, the race was comfortable and I felt exhilarated when I finished. My stamina was awesome - thanks to the cardio I get in Zumba classes.
The next race I ran was a 5k cake walk. I woke up that morning in so much pain- I had been having problems with excruciating neck and shoulder pain, but I wasn't going to be deterred from running. I just thought to myself, I don't want to be in pain for no reason especially today....so I said a short prayer, hoping to learn something. I didn't have to wait long to learn a small lesson. Our friend, Jim Hughes,who has brain cancer is the reason the race was held. I had no idea he was going to be there, but when I saw him, I started cry. He could not have been feeling good, but he showed up and was in the middle of the crowd cheering the runners on. He also walked the race. So here is the lesson I learned: No matter how big or small our pain is, we win a personal victory by showing up and reaching out to cheer and encourage others. It did not mean my pain was nothing in comparison and I should just "get over it" and run. The only thing I need to compare is how I could grow from my experience and be grateful for the opportunity to learn from suffering. I was reminded that God cares about the big-Jim's cancer and he also cares about the medium- my stiff neck and he cares about the tiny- my daughter's paper cut.
In the top left picture, you can see me right between the chick-fil-a cows.
End of the story...I was so inspired...my fastest race so far. 25:25. I was the 3rd female to finish.
