Find Joy in the Journey

I started running a little less than two years ago. My husband was deployed for the first time, and despite having graduate school courses and an assistantship to keep me busy, I felt alone. I mentioned to a friend of mine that I saw a Groupon for a 5K and asked if she would run with me. She agreed, so we each purchased our Groupons. I downloaded a few different running apps on my phone, and ended up trying to stick with one that had a running plan…

My first 5K wasn’t pretty. My friend ended up going out of town that weekend to see family. I’m honestly amazed that I laced up my shoes and went alone when I could have just stayed at home and done my own thing, but I had put down the money and I felt compelled to finish what I’d started.

I slogged through the 5K – my only goal was to run the whole way. It was a goal I proudly accomplished. I remember the course pretty vividly… it started at a church, when on to a pretty busy main road and through a neighborhood, the back up a hill to the church. There were a few people out watching and cheering in the neighborhood, and that really helped keep me going. I thought everyone was friendly, but I also felt like I must have looked like the biggest fool in the entire world.

When I arrived to the 5K in the morning, I got out of the car to a very small crowd… it kind of reminded me of some of the cross country runs I’d completed in during my 2 year stint in high school. There were really serious runners warming up with sprints and strides, completing drills, and doing dynamic stretches. I felt SO out of my league. I kinda tried to awkwardly copy someone before going inside to use a bathroom/hide.

 I finished the 5K in 39:17 (thanks to the Internet for never forgetting). The race was small and a fundraiser, so only the top 3 of each age group won awards – despite the small crowd, I was NOT among the top 3 (which was not a surprise to me). I’m not really sure what it was about it, but I went home feeling really proud and slightly ashamed. I felt like if I kept trying, I could get faster and have a better goal than just to get to the finish line.

I’ve since run a few more 5Ks. And a few other distances. There have been periods in the last two years where I’ve barely run at all (like when my husband came home from deployment and the emptiness I didn’t even know was there was gone). I’ve gotten faster at points, but I’ve also gotten a lot slower at points. I’ve realized, it doesn’t really matter to me what the time on the clock is. Yes, I love to try to beat my previous pace, if I can. But it matters to me more that I’m making an effort to do a good job. I’ve really tried training for races, and I’ve really done nothing and just signed up because it sounded like a good idea at the time. All that to say, at 39:17 for a 5K is still a decent time for me – I’m not ashamed of it any more (all the time… I definitely still have my days where I want to be Shalane Flanagan fast).

I love races. I’m building a fall schedule right now as I prepare to dive in head first on my next training project: the full marathon. I’d love it if you’d follow me on this adventure and I’ll give you the good, the bad, and the ugly of trying my best to Find Joy in the Journey - my mantra for marathon training.

I’ve already started my training by joining and online Fall Marathon Training group hosted and coached by Laura Norris at thisrunnersrecipes.com The last 6 weeks I’ve been using a walk/run method and attempted to add in cross training and strength training. No week has been perfect so far, so that might be an indication of what’s to come, but I also hope to begin what I consider my “real” marathon training plan with the best intentions of completing training to the fullest. I told Laura that my goal was to make the marathon a victory lap instead of the goal… I want training to be the goal with a 26.2 mile celebration.