Day 400: What Running Taught Me in 2013
I just past the one year mark in my running journey. I can't believe it was only last fall that my journey started. Over the last 12 months, I have run four races, recorded running 187 kilometers (on dailymile.com), and learned some really cool life lessons while on the road.
Lesson One: Running is an individual sport, but an individual doesn't run alone.
The first (and best) thing I did when I started running was to ask if anyone in the group wanted to run with me outside of the group runs. You see, I knew this running thing would be tough for me. I was (and still am) over weight and injury prone. I knew that my chances for failure were high. I needed someone to hold me accountable for the mid-week runs. I needed someone to talk to while running. I needed a running buddy to kept me from feeling alone.
The same thing holds true in life. We are all living our own individual lives, but none of us are living our lives alone. Each of us need friends to hold us accountable, to talk with us and encourage us. Life is tough and the chance for failure is high. Meeting together every now and then in a group isn't enough. Daily interaction with a buddy is where growth happens.
Lesson Two: Set a goal and celebrate it! No matter how small.
This wasn't my first rodeo. I have taken up jogging before, and exercising, and eating healthy, and every other New Year's resolution that has ever been made. And I have failed spectacularly! So what made this time different? I set a goal with a reward and then celebrated it. It wasn't a big goal. I only had to stay in the running program for four weeks. That's it! Run three times a week for four weeks. And because it was the beginning of the Couch to 5K program, most of that "running" was really walking. Simple right? By the end of week two, I was ready to quit, but I had a reward waiting for me if I stuck with it for two more weeks; my first pair of running shoes. Not cross-trainers, not tennis shoes, running shoes.
I did it! I ran/walked for four weeks and got my shoes. (I love those shoes.) Then I set another goal for four more weeks. This time I got clothes. (Winter running gear.) The next goal was a race (with an injury thrown in there for good measure). None of these were big, but they were motivating.
Now, my big motivation is a glass of chocolate milk after every run. Chocolate milk is a luxury that I have not afforded myself since the days of school lunches. Every run is a celebration of simply being able to run.
Lesson Three: Be inspiring.
Okay, so this one happened late in the year and actually will probably end up being a goal for the next year. After my third race, I started running into other people, some of them runners, who wanted to know why I run. So, like any good storyteller, I told them about my journey. Each time it was a little different depending on who I was talking to and how much time we had to talk. But each talk ended the same way, "You are an inspiration." Wow, me? An inspiration? Well, I guess that is part of my motivation for writing this blog. I wanted other beginning runners to know that although running is hard it is do-able. But an inspiration?
In hindsight, that's what motivates me to run. During the race I missed due to injury, I saw runners encouraging other runners. Runners going back out to run with a slower runner. People cheering for everyone including the last place finishers. That's what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a runner who encouraged other runners, who would run with a slower runner and help them get to the finish line. I wanted to be there cheering for the last place finisher simple because they finished the race.
So, as 2013 ends and 2014 begins, I vow to run with a friend, celebrate every run, and be inspiring. My year of struggling to learn to run is over. My year of encouraging other runners has begun.
Looking forward to being inspiring,
Lisa
