Marathoning for Marriage

A short history of running…

People have been running since humans were created.

The end.

Okay, so I know a little more about the sport of running than this, but not a whole lot. My personal history of running really is relatively short.   Past experiences with running for me usually started with enthusiasm and ended quickly in frustration and disillusionment. 

I don’t recall ever winning any races during field day during elementary school.  Growing up, riding horseback or by bicycle was my preferred choice of recreational transportation.  Running was only something I enjoyed if it was included in the playing of basketball or some other sport I loved.

Then in high school I got the brilliant idea to run cross country.  I had grand visions of morphing into a great endurance runner.  Yeah, not so much.  I ran my freshman year, enjoying little about it except the relational aspect with fellow runners, and missed qualifying for regionals by one place after running my all time personal record for two miles and nearly killing myself in the process.

My sophomore year season ended prematurely because of a hip injury.  I left the team, disillusioned, when my coach didn’t take my injury seriously and assumed I was whining so as to have an excuse to quit.  I was further disheartened when I was told that I would never be a good runner because I wasn’t running properly.  However, no one had bothered to mention that to me while I was actually on the team! 

After those painful experiences, I reasoned that I would never be a “runner” and always felt envious of people who enjoyed just going for a jog, or signed up for races for fun.  Running had always been painful for me, I was constantly short of breath, and my athletic self esteem was lacking.  So, I tossed out the running shoes.

Until I married Mike and we moved to Colorado.  Half of my friends out there ran, so I thought I’d give it another shot.  This time I got fitted for the right kind of shoes, and that made a huge difference.  I started jogging fairly regularly, but could never get past two miles.

Same story over the last couple of years…I’ve gone through spurts of running in between having babies, but again, two miles was my max limit.  I think I just didn’t believe that I could actually run farther, so I would give in when the first “wall”  hit.

I’m glad to say my story seems to be changing now, especially since my husband dared me to train for a marathon with him.  I love road biking and am used to easily biking over 20 miles at a time, but the idea of running 26.2 miles is a scary but thrilling challenge for me.

Here’s to hoping my history of running gets longer and sweeter!

Seeking to live fully,

Julie