I Am A Runner

I've always considered myself a good swimmer but as far as being athletic that was as far as I dared to go in bragging about my abilities. Since I never thought I was a very good runner I excluded myself from any sport that involved running. I didn't ever want to let the team down with my lack of speed. I accepted this as a fact about myself but have found over the past two years that I've been wondering, "why can't I run?" So I set about running, a little bit at a time, by myself (so I wouldn't make anyone wait for me). I did my first 10k race and then my first triathlon. Then I did my second 10k and a few more triathlons. I was noticing improvement but not significant enough to feel good about running. After my last triathlon I was thrilled with my dramatic improvement in my biking time but still disappointed in my overall running time. Ryan said, "that's okay honey, you're just not a runner." Again I found myself wondering, "why not?"

Well an old friend on Facebook recommended a book to me. It's called, "Born To Run, A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and The Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen," by Christopher McDougall. It just changed my life. I got it last Saturday and finished it with tears streaming down my face on Sunday. Basically the author asked himself the same question I did after being told he shouldn't run, "why not?" His search to understand why the experts say Man is not born to run led to a fantastic journey which ended with him running a 50 mile race in the Copper Canyons in Mexico.

There was so much I learned in this book, from the correct form to have when running, to what kind of shoes to buy. But the most amazing thing I learned is that Man is born to run and not only to run 1, 2, or 3 miles but long distances, hundreds of miles! No way, I thought. But I wanted to try. I had to know, can this apply to me? Can I run too? One of the best things I felt when reading this was, despite the fact that many people can run really fast, it doesn't matter how fast you go. It just matters what you can do. So what could I do?

Monday I went to the gym to try the first thing I learned, "light and easy". Just relax. I decided to try it out in the pool where I don't have to worry about technique but could just let my mind relax and go, "light and easy." I swam 2 miles. 128 laps. And I did 112 of those without stopping. I just stretched out my stroke and counted the laps. After 1 mile I challenged myself to try to make it to 70 laps, then 100, then 116 (because I did a 16 lap warm up so this would be 100 without stopping), then since 128 was 2 miles I pushed myself to do that. After 1 hour 9 minutes I did it. Wow, cool theory.

So Tuesday I decided to try another challenge. I've always wanted to run around the golf course down in the river bottoms. There are lots of steep hills. I've often ridden around it on my bike and as I passed the runners I thought, "this is hard enough on a bike, I could never run this." In particular I've often passed, Janna, a local hard core gym instructor, and thought, "yep, I could never do this. Only people like Janna do this." It was 22 degrees when I headed out Tuesday morning. I spent hours trying to decide what to wear that would be warm but breathable. Then, as I was ready to leave, I found the ipod battery was dead. Now I would have to run without music. But I was determined. I headed out, down the hill, across the river bottoms, and up my first hill. The whole time I kept thinking, "light and easy" but to that I also added, "back straight, feet underneath you, heels pointed back toward your bum." I made it up one hill, then the next, then the next. I got to the top and looked across the river bottoms to where I live. I felt like I was on top of the world. I crested the hill and began my descent when I noticed someone running toward me. It was Janna! Of course. But today, not only could she do it, I could too! The whole run was 6.1 miles and by the time I got home, I felt great. So great in fact I was on an adrenaline kick all day.

As I made that run Tuesday I kept thinking about endurance and how this book talks about people who run 100 mile races over mountains in less than 24 hours. I thought about how people are supposed to be able to outlast horses, antelope, elk, and all sorts of animals, in fact, I think humans can outlast all animals (you have to read the book). I've often thought about endurance but mostly in scriptural terms. The scriptures always talk about "enduring to the end". It's never been one of my favorite topics, kind of depressing in fact. But I began wondering, as I was running, if God intended for people to endure not just spiritually or emotionally but physically as well. And if so, how much can we endure? I thought about the promise in the Word of Wisdom that says you can run and not be weary and walk and not faint. Hmmm, "running without getting weary". I remember learning something in High School about the Greek marathon runners. I was told that after running a marathon to deliver an important message they would often collapse and die. For some reason this stuck with me and led me to believe that we shouldn't run and all these people that are running marathons are risking their lives. But now I wonder if what I was taught was false. There are hundreds if not thousands of people every year who run marathons. I think I was cutting myself short with false understanding. I think God enables Man to endure as long as he's willing to work for it. After seeing Cameron finish the Book of Mormon this week in just a few months I know there are many things we can choose to endure spiritually. And while I've been raising my four beautiful children I know there are many things we can choose to endure emotionally. Often times there are things we have to endure that we don't get to choose. But what about pushing yourself to do better or be better at something we're not good at? Can I endure something I'm not good at with practice and persistence?

So I set another goal this week. Another question that I needed to answer for myself. Could I run more than 6 miles? How about 8. Could I go 8 miles? Yes. I can and I did. Today I ran 8.1 miles. I can do more. I am a runner. I'm not a fast runner but I can endure. How far can I endure? I don't know yet. But I'm going to keep trying 8, 10, 12 maybe even 26.2. Because God has blessed me with a miraculous gift; a perfect body that has been designed to learn, to develop, to grow, and to run.