Running

As a kid my mother would make me (and I mean MAKE me) and my siblings go jogging with her. She had grown up in a family of runners, long distance runners.  Her father "encouraged" all his children to run daily. I hated running, I mean hated, loathed, despised, and abominated running (or jogging really). I would whine and complain the entire way and my mom would patiently slow down, jog in place, or backward as she urged me on, sometimes taking my hand and literally dragging me the last stretch of driveway. She would tell me that if I kept doing it, I would start to love running. I thought she was either lying or crazy.  She did love to run. She jogged miles without any effort and even competed in several races including the Equinox marathon. Me? Not so much. 

 

Well, mother, you were right.  This past summer my friend, Kim, and I decided that we were going to train for a 10k race.  We downloaded an app that had promised to train us to run a 10k in 13 weeks.  We ran together three days a week and often walked on the alternating days.  By June we were able to run a good portion of the Midnight Sun Run.  I did not love to run by that point, but I did enjoy it and even missed running (ok maybe it was the endorphins) when I missed a day. By August Kim and I were ready to compete in a benefit race for the Special Olympics down in Anchorage. Here we are before the race.

 

 

We found out when we arrived at the race that this was a race with serious runners. I think some of them had actually run 10k in "warm up" before the race even began.  We did not run the entire 10k, but we did reach our goal of finishing in less than an hour and a half.  In fact we finished in one hour and 15 minutes. 

 

Not long after competing in this race I came down with pneumonia. This prevented me from running for quite some time.  Once I was well enough to run, the temperatures had dropped drastically and I lost the will to run.  I did attempt it a few times. Kim and I even  ran together once or twice.  We wore cold weather gear, but decided that at -20 or colder we just couldn't do it anymore.  I tried it a few times at about -20 and these photos show what I looked like near the end of my run.

 

When the temperatures dived to nearly -60 for most of November I gave up.  I did miss running but, to be honest, was too lazy to get up early and go to the gym before everyone else awoke.  That is, until it was decided that the girls and I would be spending the coming month of July in Michigan and I would be able to participate in the Allegan Triathlon with my sister-in-law.  That was the motivation I needed.  I began running and biking at the gym and taking swimming lessons.  I have learned to love swimming, with the slipping and gliding through the water at once invigorating and relaxing.  But my mother was right. I also love running.