This past weekend I found myself online looking for marathons in the Seattle area in September. It wasn’t until I scrolled through a few results that I realized something:
I’m a runner.
You’re probably wondering what’s so weird about that.
Well, I started off in November with a goal of running the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Half-Marathon in June. It was a pretty lofty goal considering I was an overweight couch potato at the time who didn’t even own a pair of running shoes.
My running program started with a series of 60 seconds of running with longer walks in between. Sounds crazy now, but back then those 60 seconds were the longest of my life. Over time I built up my mileage, decreased my walking, and now I’m comfortably running 3 miles a day and up to 10 miles on the weekend.
The funny thing is that now I feel bad when I *don’t* run.
Every time I pass the 60-second mark at the start of a run I remember where I started and how hard it was to get through that first 60 seconds. Everything else seems easier in comparison, you know?
One thing I have learned in all of this is that our friends and loved ones often see something in us we don’t see ourselves. My friends Debb, Betsy M, and Cindy have encouraged me every step of the way in my training, and of course Warren is my biggest fan. I didn’t think I could do this in the beginning, but they did. And now I’ve proved them right.
This also proves my theory that the hardest step is the first one. After that, you’ve already got some momentum to help you along.
What have you discovered about yourself this year that is a little bit surprising to you? What happened to make you realize it? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
About Betsy
Betsy, you are amazing and inspiring! Besides me, you are one of the last people I imagined would run a long distance race (no offense!) so I stand in awe of all you’ve accomplished. Keep it up sister!
Well, I haven’t done it yet, friend. But I surprised myself by just thinking about it! Thanks for your good wishes. You guys are a big part of this switch.
You’re looking at full marathons now? That is awesome. I was very burnt out after I ran a half-marathon but that was also my most surprising thing, especially considering it was also the same year I ran a mile for the first time. Lifelong asthma had been tough but I figured if I could do a mile finally, why not 13? But 26 hadn’t occurred to me.
I’m a bit of an extremist (as you can tell by the “selling all my crap to travel the world” thing), so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this. But I was. We all have these stories in our heads about who we are and what we do, and “runner” has never been one of mine.
The fact that you ran a half-marathon with asthma is amazing! I can’t even imagine that.
Betsy, I know exactly how you feel! After seven years of running, and seven marathons, running is a big part of my identity. Taking up running has led to so many great things in my life = new friends, increased self-esteem, better fitness, a better relationship with my husband, and an openness to exploring new challenges.
My youngest sister, Kristine, publishes a fun blog about the joys of running. It’s called RunMamas but is really of interest to anyone who runs. You might be interested in reading it and an upcoming feature - Run, Sister - where she and I are going to post about our training for the Nike Women’s Marathon this October in San Francisco.
http://www.runmamas.com
Please keep on surprising yourself - I love reading the observations in your blog.
Jayne, I loved the Run Sister post. What a fun thing for you and your sister to do together - a marathon! I would love to know how you are training virtually since you live so far apart. I’ve been training with the Map My Run app via the iPhone to track my mileage, pace, and speed, and I sometimes share that info with my running partner, but not always. I’m very interested in the system you will use and will be tuning in to read more. Thank you so much for sharing!
Betsy, it may be surprising to you, as it was to me in my own case, to have discovered you are a runner, but judging from what I’ve seen of your site (my first visit) it really makes perfect sense. Every run is a journey and each time you increase your distance you are stepping into the unknown. That is the true magic of the first marathon. You train up to a certain distance, maybe 20-22 miles, but until race day the last few miles are a completely unproven, unknown quantity that require a huge leap of faith (or many tiny, stumbling steps of faith in my case). The first marathon is the best surprise of all - so enjoy!
Jayne and I are also charting unknown territory for us with Run, Sister! on http://www.runmamas.com. We’ll be figuring out the virtual training as we go along and I’m looking forward to the journey.
And I’m looking forward to following your journey too. I’m so pleased to have discovered your blog!
Hi, Kristine. Love the analogy about running and journeys. You are so right! My first half-marathon is less than a month away, and then I’ll decide whether I’m going to do the full marathon in September. The lazy part of me says I should do it since I’ll already be half-way through the training!
Good luck on your training with your sister. I’ll be keeping up to figure out my own virtual system for with my running partner after we leave for our trip.