Why I Haven’t Talked About Running and Why I’m Doing It Now
As Melissa can tell you, I’ve been putting off writing about running. I’ve written about travel and religion and love, but I haven’t added a single thing to our running section… until now. This last year presented a lot of big life changes for me. Life changes that knocked me way off the wagon. I got a promotion so work has been taking up a lot of my time since I’m still learning how to operate in my new role. My boyfriend I moved in together which has been great! That being said, I find myself wanting to give the little time that we both have off to him. As you can see, I’m still adjusting to these new time constraints and if I’m being honest time management has never been my strong suit. However, the biggest impact on my running has been the changes to my social circle.
I’m very motivated by people, and through running, I found some solid anchors to help keep me on track. The first is one of greatest people I know, Stephanie M. We were new dispatchers and we bonded over our ambition to do something crazy. We started hiking together. We would get up stupid early to drive for six hours to see something pretty, get to the top of it, and drive six hours back. And although we didn’t train together, we set our sights on runDisney half marathons. We booked all of our races together and talked about our runs. I tried to get her to stop drinking Redbull to no avail, and I’m still convinced that’s why she puked at a couple of our races! When I was hurt dealing with a running injury, Steph fed me Chinese food and watched movies with me until I fainted in her hallway. Stephanie became a new mom this year and left our company. As her friend, I am so insanely happy for her but as a runner I was far less motivated.
My Aunt Tiffany started running, and we would pick races to do and get dressed up for! We brought her little girls to our races, we’d get breakfast after running, and we’d make a day of it! She and my uncle moved to Albuquerque though. Their family seems happy, and so I’m happy for them, but man, do I miss those guys!
Finally, my best friend and partner in blogging, Melissa, moved to New York. Don’t misunderstand, Melissa doesn’t run… ever. Our first race together was the Bra Dash 5k. The start line was set up on the road approaching a cross street at which point the course turned left. When the race started we were jogging with the herd, but by the time we reached the corner, I’d lost Melissa. I looked back and saw her in the back of the crowd. She looked at me, shook her head sternly, and waved me on. She was done running. Melissa has always been a big supporter for me. I’d go to her pageants and make signs and she’d come to my races and walk. We even did runDisney Virtual Races and that helped keep me on track when I didn’t feel like running. It’s a lot harder to do that now though but I’m positive she is going to be very happy in New York. She’s always liked things at a faster pace than your average Washingtonian, and I’m sure her neuroticisms will be widely accepted in New York.
So yeah. I fell off the wagon, but I’m getting back on because life is full of ups and downs. It’s unpredictable, and the only constant in life is change. I had a hard time at first because a quick and easy 5k doesn’t feel so quick and easy right now. I didn’t want to talk about running because I felt like a mile three days a week wasn’t enough. But a run is a run, and you have to start somewhere, and now I’m running more. It feels good. I needed this. I love all the people that helped me to my marathon in December
2019 and I’m ready to start my next journey with running: Obstacle Course Racing. To be continued…