mindfirerunner

It didn’t occur to me that people thought running came easy to me just because I’ve always done it. I remember when I started running. I was 11 years old and in the 5th grade. I used to hate to run. No, I mean I really hated to run. It all started with the Presidential Fitness Test. You remember that one, right? You had to run “The Mile” in a specified amount of time. I was never a fast runner. In fact, I was in high school when I ran my fastest mile in 8:11 (nothing worth noting). However, it was my elementary school teacher that got me hooked. I remember him talking about running, and it seemed so easy, so I thought “Why not?” If I practiced running a mile, maybe I wouldn’t dread it the two times a year I had to do it. So I started running.

The more I ran, the more I wanted to run. Before long I noticed how much I started enjoying the empty country roads of Indiana and the chance to break free for a while. I can still feel the cool fall air, see the dark overcast skies, and hear nothing but my feet on the road with not another soul in sight. Those were the runs I lived for. Some days felt better than others, but there’s a lot of mental shredding that takes place when you’re pushing your body and mind and it pushes back. I’ve always been a competitive person; first and foremost with myself. I have never backed down from a challenge. I don’t like to be told that I have limits, but that doesn’t mean it comes easy.

I’ve re-focused my running over the past several months. Found that I have even more to tap in to. Got smart and asked for help and have shaved nearly a minute and a half off of my high school mile time.

A run is never just a run. If it feels easy, then I’m not doing anything to make myself a better runner. Sometimes, I beat myself up because I just can’t seem to get my legs moving, or because I’m not running the pace I know I can. It’s a tough sport. Those that don’t run don’t understand the conversations we runners have with ourselves every day we’re pounding the pavement. Sometimes, it’s a pep talk. Sometimes, it’s a beat down. But every time it’s a mental game that requires us to shred out the nonsense and focus on the core of what makes us runners.