I ran 13.1 miles (half marathon distance) this morning for the first time. I did it with my dog, Althea and my sister, Melissa. I am super excited and can’t wait to go farther! I never thought for a second that I would be as excited about running as I am right now. And it seems to be growing as I up the distance.
Check out the run here.
Rewind about a year. My brother in law, Chuck, and my sister, Jenny, were about to start training for a marathon. Whenever the topic of running came up, I was always the guy who said, “You know, I ran 2 miles once. And hated every step.” That is truly how I felt. I ran track in high school, just because that was the only team I could get on and the coaches trained us so hard that it took every ounce of fun out of it. I compare that to reading. When you are in school, the teachers have you read these “classics” for the curriculum. I am sure these are great works of literature, but if you aren’t interested in reading that (what typical high school kid is), then you won’t get what the author intended its readership to get. This is why I hated to read until a few years ago when I actually read something I enjoyed. Running is a lot like that. When you do it for fun and exercise, and you see improvements and results, then it is fun. Not being able to walk up the stairs after track practice is not fun.
I was the guy who commented on my sister’s blog last April when she said that “Next year, I pledge to run the whole way – not walk! – and do it in less than an hour. Oh, and we’re dragging my brother along too, whether he knows it or not …” and I commented, “Wait a second… don’t you guys know that I HATE running???” Read it here for proof!
So, I now have to eat crow. I was completely wrong in my opinion of running. It is hard at times, yes, but when you do it because you want to get into shape and improve your health and fitness, it can be wonderful!
My next event is the Lake Wylie Splash Dash 10K. My goal will be to complete in less than 1 hour. You may think “10K, in 1 hour? That’s not that fast.” But this course is very hilly, so I will be happy with 1 hour! Until then, I need more workouts. It is back to swimming this week after taking a week off after the triathlon.
I’m still thinking back to January when we decided to sign up for a 5K and you said you didn’t know if you were ready to run that far … I beat you by 3 minutes. Little did I know I needed to relish that moment because I’ll probably never beat you again!
For a second I thought I got slower but nope, it’s you who has gotten faster instead. So proud!