Well, after years of wallowing in physical mediocrity, I've finally discovered a natural athletic talent: Running!
I ran track for a couple months in junior high, but inevitably chips, ice cream and Full House re-runs lured me away from the awkwardly-short shorts and hand-me-down antique track spikes. Then, on the high school tennis team, my "running" joke was that I spent more time on the track than on the courts. This was because our (youth pastor) coach had a firm rule that we would have to run one lap for every letter of a swear word we yelled at practice. Simple math: "Damn" = 1 Mile. "Damnit" = Mile and a half. I quickly learned not to swear less, but to use shorter swear words. By the end of the season, I was no better at tennis but I was in great shape.
Jogging has since been a passive outlet for me. Usually after a viewing of Forrest Gump or Rocky, I'd throw on some kicks and hit the streets...but I never made it a consistent habit. Until recently...
Running on the treadmill at the gym a couple months ago, I noticed I could run pretty fast and for an extended amount of time. All of this without needing to stretch or feeling any pain afterward. So I started running daily. At the recommendation of a close friend, I looked into upcoming local running events. Now I had a goal, and everything changed.
I at once became motivated and empowered. I wanted to push myself and measure my results against others. Now, every time I went to the gym or jogged through the streets, I had a purpose: Training.
I ran my first 5K, 3.1 miles, on September 21st. It was part of the Fremont Oktoberfest Brew Ha Ha. Well, I ran at a pace of 6:39 / mile and finished 37th overall with 815 total participants. That blew my mind. I had no idea that I could fare so well at any sport, especially in my first attempt.
The second and most recent race was the Dawg Dash on October 12th. This was a 10K, and the course covered the UW campus, starting and ending in Husky Stadium. My goal was to run at a pace under 7:00 / mile since running twice the distance I'd probably go a little slower. Well, I ended up running at a pace faster than the first event, even with all the inclines and turns! My pace time was 6:34 / mile and I finished 49th overall out of 903 runners, many of whom are pretty hardcore competitors. I was pretty stoked.
So, I think I've found something at which I naturally excel, and can only improve at over time. I look forward to making running a part of my life...maybe, like, forever. I think I'll do it until my body falls apart, so til about 108. That's the goal anyways...
