I've always considered myself athletic, but I was never a runner. I started playing sports what I was young, and continued through high school. I played softball, basketball, and was a cheerleader all four years of high school (and all the years leading up to high school). In middle school I played volleyball for a year and was on the track team, along with basketball, softball, and cheerleading. That still doesn't mean I was a runner. In track competed in two field events (long jump and high jump) and one track (running) event. And it was the shortest running distance in track, the 100 meter dash. So I was definitely never a runner.
After high school, I played on my church basketball league for a couple of years and played some slow pitch co-ed softball. I still play softball, but if you know much about co-ed, slow pitch softball, you know it doesn't involve a ton of running (at least in the leagues that I play in).
After I had been in Grand Rapids for a few years, some of my friends convinced me to sign up for a 5k race (you can read about it HERE). The longest distance I had ever run before that was one mile, and I'm pretty sure that was back in 8th or 9th grade when we had to do it for gym class. But I downloaded the couch to 5k app and started training. My first race was a fun Halloween 5k with three of my friends. After running that first race, I was hooked. I wanted to get faster. So I kept signing up for races. Being signed up for races is what motivated me to run and train.
 |
| before my first race |
After running a few 5ks, I decided to make it my goal to run one in under 30 minutes. It took me about two years to reach that goal. Once I did it, I decided I'd try to run a 10k. I ran my first 10k in May 2016. After my first 10k, I realized it was that bad and I thought maybe I could do a little bit longer distance. So I decided to sign up for a 10 mile race, since it was only 4 more miles. After that race, I figured a half marathon was only 3 more miles, so what why not try it? So I signed up for my first half marathon, which I ran in October 2016. It was the hard, but I wanted to beat my time, so I signed up for another half marathon in April 2017 and then the Riverbank Run 25k in May 2017. That race is still the furthest distance I have ever run: 15.5 miles. I can't believe I came from barely making it 3 miles, to 15.5 miles and now training for a marathon.
Running was so hard for me in the beginning but I have grown to love it. I never feel bad after going for a run, but I definitely regret the runs I skip.
And that's pretty much it. My friends convinced me to do a race, and the rest is history. What's your story? Are you a runner? How did you get started?
No comments:
Post a Comment