I did it! I did it! Oh yes I DID IT!!!
What did I do? I didn’t just run 3.1 miles, I sailed by it and by the time I realized what was going on, I ran for 40 minutes for 3.6 miles!
Faster than the speeding light she’s flying
Trying to remember where it all began…
A million years ago, it seems, I decided that someday I wanted to run alongside my husband. He started running, and I looked at him like something so foreign. How was he just… Doing it? How? It was impossible, but alluring. I decided that alongside my life’s goals list of things like growing my hair to my waist and planting a sunflower garden, I wanted to add: be a runner sometime. I wanted to be one of those couples you see all duded up in their runner’s gear, huffing along, side by side down the trail. I decided I wanted to run a marathon. Or a half marathon. Or a 5K. Or SOMETHING that would make me feel like an athlete. I made goals, promises, got ideas. Then I started moving.
She’s got herself a little piece of heaven
Waiting for the time when earth shall be as one
It started with a few steps at the beginning of March, less than two months ago. I remember running to Katy Perry, just to see what would happen. It huuurt! My lungs, legs, knees, hips- it all hurt. The next time I ran thirty seconds. Then a minute. And more and more and more. Finally it was a half mile in 12 minutes, then the mile! It was amazing how fast the time seemed to stack up, a quarter mile seemed like nothing, then a half mile was pretty simple and then the mile, suddenly miles compressed and fused together… It just seemed to take on a life of its own right under my feet.
Quicker than a ray of light
Quicker than a ray of light
Quicker than a ray of light
I started adding distance, not worrying about times and signed up for my race. The training had to begin in earnest. I knew I had to persevere and refuse to let fear keep me from making that 3.1 mile goal. I started pushing, going slow, steady, and stopped paying attention to my Strava run tracker. I closed my brain off, pushed away the fear and let my body do it. I let go.
And I feel
And I feel like I just got home
And I feel
And the last moment, right when I figured out I screamed past 3.1 miles (5K) all the way to 3.6 miles was a thrilling one! I raised my hands over my head, crowed like Peter Pan and burst into a sprint the rest of the way home! I was a gazelle! I felt so bouncy, so amazing and so powerful as I cantered the rest of the way home. This body is such a gift.
Quicker than a ray of light she’s flying
Quicker than a ray of light I’m flying
***
(Thank you to Madonna for singing me home)