Running. I hated running. It was the death of me. It’s quite strange really how I’ve spent the majority of my life playing some sort of sport, yet running I found no purpose to it. It didn’t come naturally to me; thus I hated running because I lacked the proper speed and endurance, and when you’re not the fastest and strongest you don’t win, and contrary to popular belief, life is so much better when you win. Well, two half marathons, a Bataan Memorial Death March and more than a few 5K’s and 10K’s later and I can’t seem to get enough. I hate not running. Better yet I Love Running!
I started running in 2007. My friend Katelyn invited me to run a 5K with her - the Lisa Burmeister Run for Hope, or as I like to call it my first real deal 5K. I finished under 30 minutes, had a lot fun and became intrigued by the running community. Slowly but surely my affinity with running began to develop. It didn’t happen overnight after one race and it didn’t happen after a couple of solo runs either. It took more or less a year before I got motivated enough to start running on a regular basis. I had just moved back home, was unemployed, frustrated and disappointed, trying to figure out what was next in life when running began to make sense to me. It became my place of solace, my escape from the world. My runs at the park or around my neighborhood became the time where my brain just stopped. I didn’t have to think about anything. I didn’t have to answer anyone’s questions about my future; my world was just calm. For 30 minutes to an hour my worries and all the bad things in the world disappeared, and I began to find happiness and joy. I started having fun and when I started having fun I got serious about running.
So now three years later since the first real deal 5K and I see no end in sight. My reasons for running have changed. Sure, when I have a bad day or a stressful day it’s still my place of solace but now I want to conquer the world of running. I want to run a race, any kind of race, in each state, and I want to get faster, but I will never forget how running saved me. It brought a new purpose to my life – life should be simple, it’s too short to be complicated – and it’s taught me many lessons along the way. I’ve learned that with every race I sign up for I’m a winner. Because the great thing about running is that you don’t have to come in first place to win. Taking 10 seconds of your 5K time for a personal best, trying to run 8 miles nonstop for the first time or running in your first half marathon is an accomplishment on its own, and the feeling you get when you’ve succeeded at your goal is quite frankly a feeling I had never experienced before. I’ve learned that I’m stronger than I realize both in running and in life. In running, as you increase your mileage you know you’re getting stronger. In life, with each day you finish, whether good or bad, you’re getting stronger for what the future may hold. I’ve learned that while running may be an individual sport, the camaraderie is still alive. We cheer for each other, we help each other – I’ve seen people stop in a middle of race to make sure another runner was ok – we motivate each other to do better and we share stories on our running experiences from black toenails and blisters to bloody nipples (bloody nipples is a guy thing). We’re a band of crazies.
In spite of everything I’ve learned and all the races I’ve ran, running in Boston a few weeks ago is an experience I will never forget, the most gratifying part of this journey has been how my parents have joined the bandwagon. We’ve become a little family of runners the three of us, not that we needed another activity for bonding time we get plenty of that that’s for sure. It’s just great that we’re able to spend time together and partake in an activity the three of us really enjoy, especially now that I’m an adult. I have them running up and down hills, through the desert, in the wind, in the rain, you name it they’ve done it with smiles on their faces. Well not really but with hardly any complaints, and most importantly we get to keep these memories forever.
So I’m a runner. I don’t dread it anymore. It’s no longer the death of me. I love it. I thrive on it. Through future failures and success I will always be a runner, and a proud runner for that matter
