I truly admire people who can commit themselves to running more than a mile. I remember back in middle school that we were only required to run one mile in P.E. so from then on, I never saw that it was necessary to go any further than that. There was a point in my life where I wished to have joined a cross country team. Due to family obligations, I never had the opportunity growing up. Although never athletic, I usually was the second fastest sprinter in my class so I definitely had the spirit when I was much younger. After my parents refused to sign my permission slip to participate in after-school activities, my interest in running faded and overtime, laziness took over. However, today I feel accomplished for running the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Of all the 5K events I’ve ever participated in, this may be the only one I was able to run the whole thing without stopping, whining, complaining or cutting corners.
My friends and colleagues here are DMU inspire me in many different ways to challenge myself. As I was running, I kept thinking about all the people I know who train for marathons or who just run for fun. I’m always wishing that I had the endurance, energy and discipline to be like them. (I was also thinking about that movie, ‘Run Fatboy Run,’ and how much I can relate to the main character.) After I hit the one-mile marker, I felt relatively ok but mentally, I was struggling. I couldn’t think of very much to keep myself entertained for the next 2.2 miles but I definitely needed to be distracted from all the weird pain I was feeling in my ankles. So I thought about writing this blog and thought how great it would be to be able to say that I ran the whole thing without stopping. And I did it!
I don’t know what kept me going. I hardly run and when I do I can last a whole ten minutes before smacking that huge STOP button on the treadmill. I’d make the analogy that running is much like medical school in that the struggle to finish will be worth it in the end. So, I kept in mind that if I can do this run, I can do medical school. I was really close to stopping when I was going uphill right before hitting the three-mile marker. I kept thinking that the pain is short lived and it will soon be over (much like medical school again). And at the finish line, I didn’t even have to pull out my asthma inhaler. I feel amazing…and famished.