My hippie runner pirate headband in honor of talk like a pirate day!
I have some awesome news to share but I’m going to start by telling you a little more about myself and why I run. It will relate to the news I have and make it clear about why this day is so important to me.
I was always naturally active. I lived to be outdoors. In high school, I was a majorette and a tennis player. I was tall and skinny. That’s pretty much my entire family. Tall and skinny. Most people would think that was a blessing. For me, it was a curse. When I hit my growth spurts as a child, I hit them hard. To say I grew like a weed would be an understatement. I grew so fast that my muscles could not keep up with my bones. This caused me to have a condition called patellar instability. Basically, my knee caps dislocate when I turn just the right way or when I am highly active. It was only in one knee in school but it has escalated to be in both now. I was told that would happen eventually, anyway. I never let that stop me from anything I really wanted to do. I was a championship majorette. I also went to districts in tennis just months after my knee surgery. I held my own too. After graduate school, I became less active. Work was tough and I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands. When Hubs and I got engaged, I decided to start running. It was just the way I could make sure I fit into my amazing dress. I bought it off the rack on a huge sale. I was a size 8 and it was a size 6. Not that big of a difference and I’m sure hubs figured I would give it up after the wedding.
I found that running was more for me than just fitting into a dress. It helped me deal. As a therapist, I take on everyone’s problems all the time. I have people’s lives depending on my ability to help them through the hard times in life. I also have my own issues. Hubs and I get along great. He is my rock and the love of my life. My parents and I, on the other hand, do not get along at all. I don’t want to get into the details completely but it frequently turns for the worst. I have a hard time coping with the issues at times. No matter how hard the relationship is, I do love my family and would love to see a real improvement. As of right now, we are doing somewhat better. Running was my way of dealing with all of the stress of life. It also helped me find a love for my body. It is not a perfect body. I have two horrible knees and have to wear braces on them. I have my share of insecurities but my body has done so much more than what I ever thought I could do.
I have always been a back to middle of the pack runner. In Women Can Run, I was the slowest. I made vast improvements but was not nearly as speedy as the other girls. They were great, though. They celebrated my victories just as much as they did their own. They encouraged me and did not ever look down on me for the amount of work I had to put into it. When I broke into the 10 minute range in my magic mile back in the spring, I felt like throwing a party. The other girls were single digit runners and I really never thought that my bum knees could ever work as fast as theirs. Today I did my second magic mile in Princess training. I was nervous and kept putting it off. I was afraid it wouldn’t be faster than the first one. I pushed myself to get out there today and I’m glad I did! I pushed hard. I listened to my new songs, especially Fight Song. It has become kind of an anthem for me. It worked! I broke into the single digits. I went faster than I ever thought I could and I know it’s only the beginning. When I hit that mile mark and saw the 9:45 time, I literally cried. Ugly cried, like Kim K style. I called hubs and breathlessly told him about my achievement. I finished a cooldown mile and went home to post it for the facebook world to see. I am so, very happy and so in love with my bum knees for doing what I doubted they could. Here’s to completing GSC, I finally know that I really can do it!
Now that you’ve heard my story, I would love to hear yours. What made you guys start running? What pushes you to keep going and what are your big achievement moments?
September 19, 2015 at 9:53 pm
Awesome job. And just so you know, you are fast. I’m a Disney midpack at 12-13 mm average. My fastest mile has not broken 11 yet. So be proud with issues and all! And I run for pretty much the same reasons. To deal with life
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September 19, 2015 at 9:55 pm
Yours is a great pace too! I didn’t hit 10-11 min miles until I attended the clinic this spring. They taught me everything about form and speed work. It did wonders! I also generally hold an 11-12 min/mil on my long runs. You’re doing great!
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September 19, 2015 at 9:58 pm
That is amazing!! Congratulations on that huge accomplishment!! Those are the kinds of victories that keep us going!!
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September 20, 2015 at 12:50 am
Thanks! I have been on top of the world all day!!
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September 19, 2015 at 11:27 pm
Congratulations on your mile pace! That’s great! I know how much you wanted to get into single digits 🙂 Thank you for sharing your running story. It’s very inspirational. I started running to motivate my sister to get healthier and I fell in love with it. That was the beginning of 2014 and I haven’t stopped since.
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September 20, 2015 at 12:50 am
Thanks! I nearly lost it when I say the time! That’s really cool that you were trying to help your sister out! Having that kind of relationship with your family and doing things to help them is also very inspirational!
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September 20, 2015 at 1:49 pm
What a fantastic achievement. Totally amazing! So so proud of you! Why did I start running? Well the first time round because my best friend died of a heart attack (she was the same age as me so was in her very early 30s) and she was a pretty keen runner and loved all things Disney so we signed up for the Disney half to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. I couldn’t run for 30 seconds then and I didn’t train properly for various reasons but the occassion carried me through in just about 3 and a half hours. Then I stopped running. I started again earlier this year because I was really down about how much weight I’d put on and how unfit I was and because I needed to do something that nobody (including me!) thought I could do. I still often hate it as you know from my blog but I do, on occassion, now also love it. I am fitter, I have lost a fair bit of weight and I am constantly amazed at what this funny wobbly body of mine can achieve. And I think now I am much more likely to keep running after the Disney race because I think maybe I now just run because I can. The one little saying that often pops into my head is ‘There will come a day where you can no longer run, today is not that day’. So I started running because I didn’t think I could run and I keep running because I can.
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September 20, 2015 at 4:03 pm
What a great story! Thanks for sharing it! You are so inspiring and I have loved reading about your accomplishments. Before you know it you will find more and more times where you love it and less where you hate it. They will still be there but the bad ones make the good ones even sweeter! Isn’t it great to develop the respect for your body and what it can do!? Keep working because you are doing amazing!
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September 20, 2015 at 5:28 pm
I started running to get over a really hard breakup – long story short, he cheated and I didn’t feel worthy of love or affection or the devotion of someone outside my family. I had a lot of negative self issues to work through, and the more miles I put in, the more love I felt for myself. Running because my therapy. My greatest accomplishment was completing my first half marathon last November at Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon! Never in a million years did I think that me, a chunky girl who’s had four knee surgeries from a bone infection would ever be able to complete 13.1 miles in one setting, but I did it!
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September 20, 2015 at 7:25 pm
It can be the greatest therapy! Thanks for sharing your story! Sorry you had to go through such a hard time but I’m so glad that you found a love for running and, more importantly for yourself!
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September 22, 2015 at 2:46 pm
New to your blog…but so impressed with your new mile PR!! What an awesome accomplishment. I too run for stress relief…started out just trying to loose weight (which I accomplished) And then realized that the stress relief was so much more important. I’ve got some tough family issues too, and the runs just keep me so much calmer!
Check out my newish blog if you ever get a chance! https://travelrunstyle.wordpress.com/
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September 23, 2015 at 1:33 am
Thanks! I am still so blown away by it! Congrats on all you have achieved and I will definitely check out your blog! You can’t have too many runner friends!
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