Running is definitely not an individual sport. You might not need other people to actually get out there and play with like you need for football, or baseball, or other sports, but running is best when you involve others and find your team. Little did I realize when I started running how much of a community I would build around me because of my running. My running team is due pretty much entirely because of one person – my friend Mary.
I met Mary at a local park and rec class with our older boys. She seemed friendly and easy to talk to, our kids got along as well as three year olds do, and she went to the same college I had attended grad school. So everything you need to build a friendship on! Mary and I ended up having our youngest children right about the same time. Nothing like being pregnant at the same time as a good friend and having someone to share the experience with! After the little girls were born in 2011, I think Mary and I were just looking for that way to get back into shape and have a bit of non-mommy time. We ran a bit together, but most of our miles were done on our own.
Fast forward to the summer of 2013. I’d run a couple local 5k and 10k races. We’d also done the local Mother’s Day race a couple of times. That summer, Mary decided she’d train for a half marathon that fall. Wow I thought. I wonder if I could do that too? So I looked for a local race and sometime around September registered for a late October half marathon. I had no idea what I was doing. As Mary trained for her race, I sort of followed along, not fully understanding what in the world I had committed to doing.
Mary’s half was earlier in the month. I was so excited for my friend finishing her race and I remember visiting her that afternoon. She was exhausted and her race hadn’t gone quite as well as she’d wanted. My race was still a few weeks out and a couple of days after she’d recovered she asked if it would be ok to run the half I was going to do since she knew she could do better.
Remember – so much of running is individual – but its also so much better when you surround yourself with a community of cheerleaders who totally get your running. So – no I didn’t mind that my good friend wanted to run “my” race with me. I don’t think I would have even signed up for that first half marathon if she hadn’t thought about doing one first. And – you know what – that race was fun. We went and picked up our packets together, drove the course (the hilly hilly course!), and our families played at the finish line waiting for their mommies to finish. Mary is naturally much faster than me (could be she’s 5 inches taller and has much longer legs…) so she finished that race well before I did. And I can’t think of a better way to finish your first half than to have a good friend waiting there for you.
Since that first half marathon, my team has expanded. This week I’m going to introduce you to a lot of them and share how they’ve influenced me and how I’ve approached this sport. I love that I have a team of people to support me when things aren’t going as well as I want them to and when I’m accomplishing goals that I’ve set out for myself. Running isn’t an individual sport. Who is on your team?
