running is always sweeter after dark...

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned how excited I was to call myself an actual runner again. I decided I had earned this title after consistently running for a month and still having the desire to keep it up. Getting back into running or any form of exercise when your body is screaming at you to stop is a difficult feat to take on...but the benefits are so rewarding.

I started running 16+ years ago. I was 13 and a hopeful 8th grader who quickly learned that running was not something that came naturally. I didn't have the long gazelle like legs that my successful teammates had and at that point I certainly didn't have the mental strength to make up for what I lacked in physical prowess. (Did you know that running is 90% mental?) But, I stuck with it and when my freshman year of high school came along, I joined the cross country team. I loved it! Not because I had improved much but because my teammates became my best friends and I loved being part of the team. I worked hard...really hard...but it wasn't until just before my sophomore year began that something clicked in my brain and I realized I just might have a lot of untapped potential.

I got a letter from my sister Mindi who was a student at what was then Ricks College. She basically told me that she was proud of me and that she "knew" I could make it to State that year. I scoffed at the thought because I was still a JV runner and being part of the Varsity team was so out of my league. However, a seed had been planted in my brain and I remember thinking, "Yeah right...but then again...what if?" I don't think Mindi ever knew that her letter had an impact on me...I think I still have it.

It would be cool to say that I went on to become a world class athlete...but I didn't. I did however, make it to State that year and an additional 5 times after that in both cross country and track. I was never the best or even the second best on the team, but I could hold my own and again...I worked hard, really hard.

In recent weeks, I have thought a lot about how running has shaped me, what it has given me...lifelong friendships, physical and mental strength, a "you don't think I can? watch me!" attitude, clarity, inspiration, self-esteem, individuality, serious work ethic...the list goes on. But do you want to know the best thing running has given me?

Him. How so? Dan and I met in college and rather than date each other, we became running partners. For two years we ran together, almost daily. He became a "safe" place for me and unlike the other handsome boys on campus, I didn't care about impressing him...I was just me. We trained for a marathon together and when all was said and done, we got married. Who would have thought that wanting to be a cool 8th grade track runner would be the catalyst for so much good that has come into my life?

Running is hard but it's a part of me. I don't know that it ever gets easy, no matter how fit you are. But it yields sweet rewards that (for me at least) can't be found anywhere else.