This is a picture of me running last week. I took part in a relay here in Halifax Nova Scotia called the Rum Runners Relay that consisted of 70 teams (10 runners each) running a cumulative 110km (or 68ish miles). Being the “competitive” runner that I am (and in the midst of marathon training) I chose the longest leg of the relay making me runner number 4 with a distance of 17. 1 km (10.6 miles). I love this picture for a number of reasons. First off I look really fast! I mean the action shot is just about as cool as one could ask for when running. Both of my feet are clearly off the ground. My running stance looks damn near perfect and did I mention I look fast?
It’s one of those runs where everything just falls into place. I’m not fast runner by any means. It took me and hour and forty minutes to complete this run but every step felt good. It’s one of those runs you wish you could just tuck in your pocket and pull out on days when the running isn’t feeling so good.
But it wasn’t always like this.
This is me not too long ago. This was taken February of 2010 and it was the first time I had run for 5 minutes non-stop.
When I began this Life Changing Journey I weighed 270 pounds and never imagined I would be able to even run 5 minutes let alone the marathons I am currently conquering. When I got down to 250 pounds I began running with the ever popular Couch to 5K program and something happened; I actually liked running.
If you’re a new runner (like Martinus) you’re probably thinking the same thing we all do when we a) weigh a lot b) want to use running as a tool to losing weight; You’ll never be good enough, never fast enough and everybody is going to point and laugh.
At 250 pounds I ran a 15 minute mile on average. Today I can hold pretty steady (at least for a few miles) around a 9 minute mile. At 250 pounds I couldn’t run for more than a mile without needing some serious rest days. Today I am a marathoner. At 250 pounds I never imagined the runner I would become but today I am the runner I was meant to be.
Listen, I won’t ever be the fastest runner on the block. Neither will you unless you have some god-like genes that have gone undiscovered until the day you strapped on a pair of running shoes. The thing about running is it helps us understand that we can commit not only to our health but to ourselves in general. Running can be lonely and take away from spending time with the people we care about but ultimately you get to spend the time with the one person you should care more about than anyone else: yourself. Running helps us to achieve goals we never imagined possible and it opens the possibility that maybe we could chase other goals.
Don’t focus too much on how fast you think you should be running or how far. Don’t focus on what you imagine other people are thinking when you pass them on the streets. Focus on what running is really doing for you; it’s making your life awesome one kick ass step at a time!
~Tara
Twitter: @tidbits_of_tara
