Today is Tuesday, and that means half marathon training with the 13 Weeks to 13 Miles crew. I’ve been at this since July, so I’ve come to accept that taking some time out of my evenings, away from Tyler and Lola, is what I must do to prepare for this big race.
Like I’ve said before, I have a love-hate relationship with running. There have been times I’ve absolutely dreaded going to training while what I really wanted was to go home to crawl in bed, fix dinner, or just lounge around the house. I’ve skipped training for reasons including that I’d had a long day at work, my allergies were acting up, or because it was incredibly hot outside.
But tonight should be a fantastic night for hitting the pavement. According to Ron Rhodes, my favorite meteorologist of all time, the humidity is supposed to drop right along with the temperatures — to sub-80 degrees. Regardless of the how warm or cool it is, I’ll sweat like crazy. But tonight I’ll actually be able to breathe. I’m very much looking forward to it.
Yes, looking forward to running. People’s reactions to how much I run range from that of admiration to thinking I’m crazy. I’m always amazed that there are still people who, when finding out I’m a runner, express what they think of it. Maybe I don’t look like a runner (darn thunder thighs). Maybe it’s because most people don’t see many runners out actually running (likely because we either get up really early to run, or we’re out kicking our own butts when we should be sitting down to dinner). There are people who run a lot more than I do, though. We’re definitely a different breed, but we truly love it. We may have blisters, calluses, and sock tan lines, but there are very few things that could keep us from doing what we love.
In the picture are the people who I run with every week: Nicole, Mo, Chuck, and then me in the pink top. These people are the ones who keep me going, encourage me to run harder when all I want to do is give up. Nicole is a mom of two with the third on the way. Before she found out she was pregnant, she pushed her two kids in a stroller and still beat just about everyone. Needless to say, now that she doesn’t push the stroller anymore (doctor said it’s a no-no) she’s even faster. Mo is running the half marathon because he has been trying to lose weight. After he got married, he put on the pounds and his wife made a friendly wager that he couldn’t lose a certain amount by May. He did, and he’s still training hard not only to lose weight, but to prove to himself that he can complete this race. And I’ve known Chuck since last year. He’s only been running for three years, but already he’s done the Evansville Half Marathon and the Nashville Marathon. He’s definitely been an encouragement to me.
There are so many others who are there to offer me advice, give me an encouraging word, or just show me what it’s like to be a good runner. If you’ve ever been interested in giving running a try, I’d definitely suggest the 13 Weeks to 13 Miles program. You can start out walking (they have walk, walk/run, and run groups) and build up to your goal.
Come on over to the dark side of running. You just might like it.
