To My Running Peeps
Although I am not running at this time, running is never far from me. My husband is a runner, and I have many friends who run as well. I also meet people frequently who are runners. And there are some themes to the thoughts that I notice that these runners have. I wanted to discuss that ….
The first is the whole notion of not being a real runner? What makes a person a real runner? A real runner runs. They run a few days a week or more. It’s important to them. They miss it when they don’t. They run even if the weather is not perfect (sometimes). They buy running shoes and technical fabrics. They are out there … running. Doesn’t have to be fast. Doesn’t have to be steady … you can still be a runner and take walk breaks. You are also a real runner even if you don’t participate in races. REAL RUNNERS RUN. That is it. Simple and truthful. Don’t confuse yourself with an elite. An elite runner is a professional, and most people cannot attain the crazy level of training (and low body fat) that they have.
Another refrain us runners say a lot is “I’m just doing the half”. WTF? What do you mean JUST??? That is 13.1 freaking miles my friend! That is NOT a small accomplishment. How many people can do that? How many people even try?
Sure, I understand how it feels. You have a few half-marathons under your belt and you think you can do more. So you train hard and complete a 30K or a marathon (42K). And it was awesome, it was fun and it was also torture. You get addicted and want to do more.
But then you don’t feel up to the full distance and so you decide to run halfs for a while. So you feel like a failure. Trust me, I know. But I can also tell you that the many times I have finished a half marathon, while my husband finishes his full, that I am so happy that I “just did the half”. I have my medal, my water, my post run fuel, my flip-flops and I am done running. I am always so happy that I don’t have double the distance to do.
Half-marathon distance is a perfect distance in my opinion. But I think the word “half” is what is tripping us up and making us all not feel good enough when we complete one. Making us explain that we “can” do a full. So I propose changing the name. And mini-marathon is even worse, more “degrading” that half. I propose we call them 21Ks. Now doesn’t that sound nice.
As humans, and especially as runners, we all tend to be hard on ourselves. There is no need for such foolishness. I would even bet that the majority of runners are driven in their personal lives as well. No need. There is more to life than being our own harsh critic.
So just go out there and run your 1 mile or your 20 miles. Run it fast or slow. Include walking intervals or not. You ARE a runner, and you are damn good at it and should be PROUD.