a little and a lot

Thursday, May 19, 2005

she's at it again...

i dug my running shoes out of one of my many boxes today and put them to use. they've been neglected for several weeks now in the shuffling chaos of change. but i really love the consistancy and methodical-ness (?) of running. no equipment necessary except for a pair of shoes, lungs, and legs that work.

how in the world did i, of all people, become "a runner?!" (i like my friend kelly's comments about her self-description as a runner. i mean, basically, if you're running...then you're a runner. it's that simple right?) when i started dating my boyfriend last fall, i had just started training for my half marathon. he has ONLY known me as a runner. that just makes me giggle. it's not that i don't like athleticism...i'm just not super talented at the whole deal. (if he only knew my dark un-athletic past! shhh...no one tell him!)

but running...

see, running consists of putting one foot in front of the other in a motion that is faster than walking. some people are speedier at it than others, but come on--EVERYONE can do it! and thus, running opens the door of "being athletic" to just about anyone. i just love that!

i have a friend who used to run in high school but stopped because he was frustrated with the fact that you can never "win" at it. you are constantly trying to beat your "personal best." it's not about winning--it's about improving. an endless quest. but i like that too.

training for a half marathon was an incredible experience. because when i started, i was barely doing a mile or two. when i finished in december, i had run 13.2 miles! how did that happen? slowly...over many months...by increasing my mileage a little every few weeks. did it feel like i was ever going to make it to 13.2? no way, man!

running reminds me of being a Christian. [insert spiritual applications here]

so i started training for a full blown marathon today. (well, i started the 12-week pre-training before the 18-week "official" training. it will be 26 miles. how many did i run today? 1.5. awesome.

i'm so glad i dug up those shoes. now where's my bible?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

She's not at it again when it comes to blogging. Let's have another post already, and say some really awesome things about your boyfriend. He sounds like the coolest person on the planet.

Kara Newby said...

Hey, I that it was you and I that were talking about this (or something similar) but this guy wrote an article in runners world about the running gremlin.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-187-0-0-8137,00.html

I like it. It's going to be on my wall, I think. I am begginning to think (much more and harder...maybe soon that will transfer into running action) about the the full St. Judes. We'll see.

Kara


Adopting Rhet: Click on the timeline above to read more