Friday, March 11, 2011

On your marks, get set, HELP!!!

So I did it. I am excited and terrified at the same time. I REGISTERED TO RUN THE DISNEYLAND HALF MARATHON!!

I know some of what I was thinking and I want to write it down so that I can remember this process. I love Before and Afters so this is going to be my own personal "Before."

Before: I have never been an athlete. I played little league softball and my coach told me not to swing because they would most likely walk me and that was best. I always wanted to be good at sports but I was afraid to really try because I would look even more stupid when I failed if I was giving it my all. I love to play volleyball but opted to be the manager instead of try out for the team because I wasn't one of the sports girls and I would just look like an idiot. I lettered all 4 years in track by throwing the discus. I wasn't big enough to really be good at it but not many other girls did it so I could always qualify on our team and go on the away meets.

Do you see a pattern here?

Every day at track practice we would begin with a warm up lap around the track and everyday it would almost kill me! One lap. A quarter mile. And I would finish with a stitch in my side and totally out of breath. Everyday. So yeah running was NOT my thing.

Fast forward to now: last October Greg and I signed up for the gym, and then didn't go... Typical right? Our friends the Neeni talked to us about the gym and we had set them up with guest passes when we had signed up so we decided to go try it out together.

I started on the treadmill and was just going to walk. But the speed was faster than was comfortable to walk and something in my body told me it would be easier to run than to walk that fast so I tried it. And it was easier. And it felt good. So I decided to keep trying it. And it kept feeling good.

The first time that I ran a mile without stopping I was ecstatic! That is 4 times the track warm up lap that almost killed me! And I was comfortable running it; I wasn't out of breath, I could still talk while I ran, no stitch in my side... It was actually kind of easy. We had developed a plan with the Neeni to go every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday so I kept running. And I kept improving: 1.25, then 1.5, then 1.85 and I so wanted to break through the two mile mark without stopping but no luck.

I talked to my older brother who is a great runner and told him of my frustration trying to break the two mile mark. He gave me some great encouragement and advice and I felt like I could keep trying. The next time I ran I had committed to passing 2 miles mo stopping. I just kept thinking about how I wanted to be able to tell Brian I had done it. I made it to 1.75 miles and felt like my legs wouldn't go any farther. My breathing was great but my legs were wobbly. And then a car pulled up in front of the gym. It was a silver HHR, the same kind of car my brother Brian had been driving every time he came to visit while he was stationed in Tucson. I took it as a sign and kept going. That day I made it 2.1 miles without stopping and I felt awesome! I wasn't sore, out of breath, or even very weak in the legs. I did it and it was kind of easy... Over 8 times the dreaded warm up lap!! This is the beginning of a new thing for me and I don't want to stop.

A few years ago some friends of mine did their very first half marathon and we got to go down and cheer them on. It was amazing! I was so impressed by and jealous of them! I wanted to be able to do that but I knew that I never would be able to, I mean, REMEMBER the warm up laps? But now I realize that a lot (if not all) of my athletic ineptitude has come from my own mind. So I have decided to do it. I AM going to run a half marathon. You know how I know? Because I ran 2.1 miles no stopping and, for all that I believed I could, it might as well have been 20.1 miles. I SO can do this!

2 comments:

Michelle said...

Woo HOO! I can't wait for you to cross the finish line. "You can do IT!"

The Giles Files said...

I am cheering you on every step of the way! Keep us, and by us I mean me, updated on how you are doing. I love reading about these kind of things and it inspires me.

Run, Corie, run! :)