We run, running all the time,
Running to the future…
@pinkfeathers
As far back as I can remember, I was running. Always moving so I could get to the future. Being properly caffeinated helps too! Now that I am almost 50, I consider my running in two phases, Before Kids (BK) and After Kids (AK).
Before Kids (BK)
Jingle Bell Run, 12/1995
As a kid growing up west of Cleveland, I ran fast, walked fast, talked fast, read fast, and used to finish timed math tests fast. You could say I was just a little competitive. We played many a game of Kick the Can in my neighborhood and I did not like being tagged before I kicked those cans.
The high school years:
- In 9th grade I joined the basketball team to get ready for track.
- I sucked at basketball but I knew that any running drills or doing laps on the indoor track I was faster than everyone on the team.
- For reasons I can’t remember…I never did track.
Post college, I transferred to Boston, the running mecca, and my true running obsession/addiction truly came to be. Before I knew it I had joined the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), started working on improving my speed, and had some PR’s. One race I was 7th female overall and won $25. Wow, was I professional now, HA!
Typical of me I didn’t take the next logical step to maybe a 10 miler or half marathon (at this time my longest run had been a 10k). I took a giant leap: I signed up to run my first marathon, the Baystate Marathon, to qualify for Boston. To recap: one year after moving to Boston, the Fall of 1995 when I was 28, I ran my first marathon. I ran 3:57. I did not qualify.
After Kids (AK)
Cambridge Half, 11/2106, PR 1:49:11
I have two daughters who are 16 and 13 and my running has taken on many, many different forms since becoming a mother runner. My obsession with running came back in full force when my older daughter joined the Cross Country team in 7th grade. I would be at meets and felt I wanted to jump out of my skin. I just wanted to be running and racing with them. My daughter probably wouldn’t have appreciated that, so I knew it was to for me to get back into my own training and racing. You know, with people my own age.
That was four years ago. Since then I have had some new AK PR’s and have added the half marathon to my racing. In the last couple of years I have been coached and realized I love to be in training almost more than the race itself, almost.
BK, running used to be all about winning and running faster than everyone else. Not saying I’m completely over that, although at least there are age groups.
AK, running is about seeing what I can do, how fast I can go, and sometimes the run is just to help me work through whatever craziness is going on in my life.
I love running and I’ll pretty much talk about it to anyone who is willing to listen (or within earshot. Or who is too polite to walk away). It helps my family if someone else listens…they make bets on whether or not I can keep myself from talking about it. Lucky for them I started this blog. A whole new set of people to share my running obsession.
Ps. I just turned 50 in January. I applied and got a waiver from my local running group (Squannacook River Runners) to run Boston on April 17, 2017. Woo Hoo!