Last year, I ran a purposeful running series to allow you to share why you run. After it ended, my sweet (real-life) friend Leslie submitted her response, and I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to squeeze it in. I can certainly relate to her lessons learned, and I’m sure many of you can as well!
I always say that if I can run a marathon, anyone can do it. In the summer of 2006 I was the least likely person that you could imagine doing such a thing. Though I dabbled in running, I mostly decried its damaging effects on one’s joints (this is typical non-runner kvetching.) I took it up in the fall of 2006 because I needed something cheap (no gym membership required) and immediate ( there was a trail walking-distance from where I was taking classes) that I could do for exercise.
Running more than 5 minutes straight was quite taxing for me at the beginning of my journey. I use the term running loosely. It was more like staggering about, gasping for air, and wishing for death.
But we, my husband and long-suffering running partner, soldiered on. Me despairing of every step, he somehow tolerating my sour attitude. Despite all the complaining, within a few months I could run the entire three-mile loop! This was a revelation to me. I was running three miles! At that point, it seemed like the world was my oyster so I decided I was going to sign up for a marathon! I can’t imagine how ridiculous this sounded to those who know me. But through my endorphin-clouded high, it seemed the natural thing to do!
I began training for the 2008 Houston Marathon in the late spring of 2007. I found a running partner and we adopted a training plan. Soon I was running 12, 15, 18 miles! Me! I was doing it- the person who used to be put out by running for five minutes! And something quite incredible happened: I was actually enjoying myself. I’ve heard that running produces endorphins and all sorts of feel-good hormones. Let me tell you, whatever it is is highly habit forming! I was waking up before the sun (before the sun!) to go running (to go running!). These are things that I never ever thought I would be doing.
But somewhere amidst all that exhilaration was a small, unvoiced hope that I’d fall and break my ankle so that I could sleep in, and, you know, do whatever is the opposite of running 15 miles.
As exciting as it was, there was still a tension there, an aversion to getting up while it’s still dark and covering distances most sensible people would only do by car. One day, as I was searching for some excuse to get me out of this ridiculousness, I heard myself say (in my mind) “Just quit. No one’s making you do this. Just quit if you want to.” Another inner voice (there are many- and they often argue!) just as quickly responded: “No! I don’t want to quit!”
And there’s the rub: most things worth doing are hard and there are always reasons not to. This is not a revolutionary revelation. Most people probably learn this earlier and more gracefully than I did (and am still doing). But for me, it was a revelation. I accepted that no one is going to make me do the hard things. I would have had no one else to blame if I’d decided to quit.
Many times there are excellent reasons not to embark on a challenge. In my current season of life with two small children and a husband with a very busy schedule, I do have to choose to opt out of certain things. I was flirting with the idea of doing a half Ironman to take place eight months after my second baby was born. I quickly realized that a half Ironman just will not fit into my life at the moment. But half Ironman or not, the point, and the thing that my marathon taught me, is that I can’t blame anyone or anything else for the consequences of my decisions.
My experience was a very physical lesson about commitment. I still rely on that internal dialogue regularly. I recently had to adopt a 5:30 am exercise routine because I was having trouble making it to the gym with my two kids during the day. Every morning when the alarm clock goes off, I have to make a choice. Some days I do sleep in- and that’s okay. Like the half Ironman, making a less ambitious choice is sometimes the better option! But most days I get up because I know that if I drop the habit it will be because I chose to turn off the alarm.
I used to like running in the rain because I knew that the only other people out on the track would be the truly committed people. I felt a sort kinship with those runners I passed, each of us wiping rain from our eyes as we nodded hello. I feel like we shared something- a love of running. But more than that, an attitude. I feel like this “no excuses” mentality is distinct to runners because they are out there in rain, snow, sleet, and hail. There are reasons everyday not to go, but you have to go now or you never will.
I ran regularly for about three years including a second marathon in 2008 in New York. These days, I don’t actually run much. My exercise habits have evolved since 2009 due to two pregnancies (I am not a pregnant runner) and now two young children. But, if I may humbly say before an audience of true runners, I still consider myself a runner at heart. The attitudes that I learned while training for my marathon have shaped my life since. I can’t control everything but I can control my attitude, own my choices, learn from them, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Why do I run? Because running taught me that sometimes there’s drudgery involved in running and in life, but often times all of that putting one foot in front of the other turns out to be incredibly satisfying.
What hard things have you done that were still worth doing?
Loveit! Running has taught me that. I am way more capable than I give myself credit for!
Kat recently posted..Princess Weekend: Race Recap
I dont run MUCH but when I do —I feel bada**
Miz recently posted..4 tips for teaching little (& big) people body confidence.
What an inspirational post! I hear those voices, too! Hard things: every race, but that’s what makes it fun. I’m off to visit Leslie’s blog!
Tina@GottaRunNow recently posted..1/2 Marathon Race Dress Rehearsal
Thanks for this post Leslie and Laura! I’ve been hearing my inner voice say “Just do it” a lot lately and know that if I don’t do it, it will not get done. Good inspiration here! Off to do it…..
I’m glad you found it inspiring, Jane.
Thanks for the comment!
Laura recently posted..Running Survey + Half Marathon Goals
Great post! Running has taught me that I CAN do it if I put my mind to it
Wonderful inspiration!
Laura @Fit Running Mama recently posted..Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Granola Bites
What a great post! Those little voices are great motivation at times. Some you need to listen to. Others you need to say shut up and run!
Angela @ Happy Fit Mama recently posted..February 2013 in Review
What a great story Leslie shared with us! I love how everybody has a story and they are all interesting, inspiring and fun to read.
Lisa @ RunWiki recently posted..Kyle’s Krusade Race Recap
I never ran before two years ago. I hated it and had no interest in it. I take all of that back lol
Kierston recently posted..WIAW: Mr. FUntastic Takes Over!
I loved this post! She summed it all up so eloquently. Hers is a great story and even though she may not be running now, I have a feeling she’ll be back!
misszippy recently posted..Pull back the curtain
I love this!
rachelle q recently posted..Does This Mean I Don’t Have to Vacuum?
THis was so great to read! Despite how hard running is, I feel like it always give back more than it takes.
Marcia recently posted..Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?
So very true!!!! Anything worth doing doesn’t come easy. I have a lot of days where the “just quits” creep in, but something – that passion that is way down deep keeps me going
I know Leslie’s going to get back into it once time allows!
beka @ rebecca roams recently posted..Playlist Thursday – The Man Show
“….most things worth doing are hard and there are always reasons not to. This is not a revolutionary revelation. Most people probably learn this earlier and more gracefully than I did (and am still doing). But for me, it was a revelation. I accepted that no one is going to make me do the hard things. I would have had no one else to blame if I’d decided to quit.”
I’m very similar!
I’d say being in the Peace Corps was like that for me too. So many times I wanted to quit, felt sad and homesick, but I didn’t, and now I am so glad. I think there will always be a quitter inside me. My life’s work to is *always* beat that quitter. Good luck, Leslie!
Love this! So well-said.
Great post! And I think she can always call herself a runner, regardless if back in gear or toned down. Once a runner, always a runner at heart. And it is true, life and children will create roadblocks along the training paths. But, that is ok too – after all, many of us are “mothers who runner, not runners who are mothers”
Christina recently posted..Runner problems
I can totally relate to this and still remember the moment I fell in love with running. We all do have a choice and what we do with it is what matters. My family has gotten used to me heading out for a quick run before making dinner when we get home some nights and they are fine with it. In the past, I would have hesitated to put my needs first, but it all works out in the end. No one will do it for you.
Great, inspirational post!
RunFastMama recently posted..Nuun Active Hydration Review
I always love hearing how other people started running, and their journey!
Ari @ Ari’s Menu recently posted..Whopper Cookies
what a great and well written story!
Great story, thanks for sharing
Jen recently posted..Another for "what not to do while marathon training"
Great story. So inspiring!
Love it! Great story!
Wonderful post! I’m glad she wrote it and you shared it with us! I think getting a PhD was hard but for me it was ultimately worth doing. Sometimes I feel like living in Alaska is hard, some days I’m pretty sure it’s worth it but sometimes I don’t feel so sure.
Raquelita recently posted..Progress Toward Goals: February in Review
I love reading or hearing about running stories. This was so great and very inspirational, thanks for sharing=)
Absolutely wonderful post on why to choose running. As you stated, with anything in life there are always reasons not to do something just like there are reasons TO DO something. But we, as runners and athletes choose to do healthy things and things that will enrich our lives. If only people who choose to do less healthy things (drugs etc.) would see that there are reasons to do and not to do something and you really should weigh them out. I have done plenty of hard things in my life and have never regretted pushing through when things got tough, especially when it comes to running. Just today I pushed through a crappy motivation lacking run, and of course I felt better for it.
You are a wonderful inspiration and I hope others reading this take up running or make it a bigger part of their life because they see what a great thing it has been in your life.
Laura recently posted..I am Trying, I swear
Fabulous, and very inspirational story. Thanks for sharing : )
Michelle recently posted..Vacation
I know my neighbors think I’m crazy when I’m out running in the rain and snow, but I follow the no excuses as well. I DO allow for a little flexibility in my weekly schedule, but if it comes down to it and there’s not another day to do a run and it’s ugly outside, well, outside I go!
Jenna recently posted..17 Days of Green: The First #17daysofgreen
What a great story!!!
Mandy recently posted..I am still alive!!!
Well, I do not speak english very well and I write it even worst but I fit in what you said beyond the words…as if you are talking about me:-)There’s only one difference maybe: I don’t especially like running, what I love, is the feeling I get after it. Does it make me a junkie?:-))) Every morning I hate to wake up, but I do it. Now even earlier, at 4.15. Anywhay, what I would like to tell you, as to a friend of mine, is that you should overcom the second pregnancy and keep the running at an active level. It’s hard with two kids, I imagine (I only have one and it feels like a hundred:-)))) sometimes), but this should remain between the few things that you still do only for you.
I’ve seen here in a triathlon, a father participating in a halfmarathon, pushing a stroller:-)))