My Running

My running really started on the court.  Basketball, volleyball even tennis (wayyyy back in the day though).  Running with a ball or sprinting to kill a ball was the most enjoyable thing ever.  In the off season, running to stay in shape was okay; but my eyes were on the prize of the upcoming season. I mean, I did 2 years of track and field but hated it; freshman year I did it to make my dad happy and junior year I did it to socialize.

Well high school ended as did my desire to play team sports.  Varsity high school athletics had burnt me out and sucked all the fun out of sports.  I hated most of the girls I played with and the coaches weren’t too much better.  The lone exception was AAU bball which was amazing and the best thing ever (just had to put it out there in case any of those teammates read this in the future).

But I kept on running.  At this point I needed something to do, to stay sane.  It was my constant in a tumultuous world.  I mean, I was a high school graduate, I had to make new friends at college, I was on my own and out of my safety zone. Very scary stuff.

So I ran. I never really had a purpose with my running until one of my high school friends (who actually quit t&f and ran with me senior year) suggested that we run a half marathon for the fall of ’07.  I started training for it the summer beforehand and was hooked.  I ran a 10k (winning my age group!) and another half the following spring.  Since that first race I’ve only run a handful of other races but I like to think that I’m being smart about racing and not doing something just to do it.  They’ve all been incredibly meaningful and I’ve run them all with the intention of putting everything out there, so much so that I would say I race so that I want to puke my guts out at the end.

Before I list my PRs (because let’s face it, I like to brag a bit) I want to put out there that running is so ingrained into me that I have a tattoo of running shoes on my hip.  I get funny looks sometimes when ppl see it but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and the hard work I’ve put into my running.

PRs

• 5k        — 19:59       (CVS Caremark Downtown 5k – Providence, 19-Sept 2010)
• 5 M      — 34:15       (Minuteman Classic 4-July 2010)
• 10k      — 41:20     (Tufts Health Care 10k 11-Oct 2010)
• 13.1     — 1:33:57  (Swanzey Covered Half Marathon 5-Sept 2010)
• 20M    — 3:10:XX  (Eastern States 20M 28-March 2010)
• 26.2    — 3:09:26   (Dallas White Rock 5-Dec 2010)