Monday, August 5, 2013

Are You A Runner?


Charlie and I were on our final walk of the night on Friday when we bumped into a neighbor with her puppy.  We see each other out and about often, sometimes when Charlie and I are heading out for or coming in from a run, so, since I was still in my running clothes from the 5k race we'd just run, I should have expected the question:

Are you a runner?

Now, I talk a big game on this blog about being a runner.  In the past four months alone, I've written this post, this post, and this post - not to mention the vlog I recorded back in January - and I'm all over Twitter and Instagram with my splits and my sneakers.  But actually being asked that question in person and having to answer it honestly is a totally different experience.  So I kind of laughed awkwardly and did a little shuffle and reached down to pull Charlie's ear and then...

I said yes.

After all, I had just gotten home from running in a 5k race, the first of two in a series I'll be doing this month, and there was a 6 mile training run pencilled in on my calendar for Sunday morning.  (Charlie and I ended up doing 6.4 miles, which is a 10k, and then alternating between euphoria and death for the rest of the day.)  Plus, I've retired one pair of running shoes (rest in peace, my faithful Saucony Stabil 6s) and am starting to think about getting another to rotate in with my current Brooks pair.  If all that doesn't make me a runner, what does?

Sometimes I still feel like I'm faking it.  When I'm not actually running or recovering from a run, I sort of wonder if I am, in fact, a runner.  After all, my times are nothing to write home about.  I still haven't ever run more than 7 miles in one go.  And I don't look like a runner, whatever that means.

But I am a runner.  I've got the next five weeks of runs scheduled so that I'll be as ready as possible for my half marathon on September 14.  I can push through a crappy mental place into an energizing rhythm.  I'm bringing my workout clothes to England and am really looking forward to clearing my head with an easy run on the morning of my wedding.

So yeah, I'm a runner.  I just wish someone had told me a decade ago that I could be!

24 comments:

  1. Yup, you're definitely a runner! Hopefully I can call myself one someday...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Allyssa: you're a runner! And an inspiration. Hoping to follow in your footsteps, soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is so awesome! Of course you're a runner, and as a runner myself I can relate to the exciting feeling of realizing how easy it is to become this thing you previously held on a pedestal.
    Congrats on training for your half marathon! Enjoy the first one...its the best because each week's long run when you run farther than you've ever run before will feel like the best accomplishment.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I always laugh awkwardly when someone asks me that, too. It's something to be proud of, girl! Be prepared to retire many many more shoes! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good job! And you are definitely a runner! I am definitely not :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think many struggle with this...I know I do.

    ReplyDelete
  7. haha thank you! I guess I just needed to give myself a pep talk today :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. oh thank you! I do wonder if I'd be as gung ho if it weren't for Charlie, who NEEDS to run :P

    ReplyDelete
  9. THAT'S IT! Why didn't I start this sooner? It's awesome! Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. woohoo thank you! and maybe you aren't yet... but I'm living proof that you CAN be!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I guess because there are so many measurable things in running - it's easy to feel like you're not doing as much as other runners. but you're doing more than you would be if you were sitting on the couch!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Georgia ChristakisAugust 5, 2013 at 5:00 PM

    Best of luck. Peter and I did our first half a couple years ago, and it felt amazing to finish it, even though my time was not 'competitive,' whatever that means. I hope you have an awesome experience!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this post! And I think that's it's true that there's no such thing as a fake runner - I've never thought of it that way before. So long as you run regularly and are building towards some sort of goal, then anyone most definitely qualifies. Good luck with the rest of your training, and good luck to Charlie too! ;)


    xxx
    Jenna

    ReplyDelete
  14. PSH. I'm competing with The Blerch! http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running have you seen that? it's spot on.

    ReplyDelete
  15. :) I think it takes awhile to become a runner, you know? Maturity or something. I HATED running as a kid. It was a punishment for when we lost soccer games. But that all changed when I blew my knee out and heard the phrase "you may never run again" and, well, all of a sudden running meant the world to me.


    We're all runners. AND.... I think it's bred into us. I mean, think about if you heard you could never run again. We're HUMANS! It's like, a part of our survival instinct to run. I think that's the thing about it. We're all runners. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Georgia ChristakisAugust 5, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    Never seen it. but you're absolutely right. It's crazy accurate, even in regards to my exam study schedule :-/ stupid blerch!

    ReplyDelete
  17. It occurred to me a few weeks ago, after too many to count 5ks, a few 10 and 15ks and a half marathon that somewhere along the line I had turned into a runner. Although I'm really more of a moderate jogger. And I definitely do not look like a runner :P

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lol I always say "I'm not a real runner". I reallllly don't like running but I do it because I have to! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I think this sums up exactly how I feel about it, too! I've never wanted to run more than the times I've been told I can't {like now - stupid torn calf muscle}.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I would definitely call you a runner. In my humble opinion ofc.


    I'm still trying to convince myself to go for that first run but know that it's reading about your times and experiences that have helped get me to even consider it. That was unthinkable 10 weeks ago nevermind 10 years ago!

    ReplyDelete
  21. My mother often says to my brother that he should take up running, saying that he has the physique for it! :D

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your thoughts and suggestions! Please do leave a comment so we can get to know each other better.