My Running Journey

I hate running…and I have for a very long time.

When I was growing up, I participated in numerous sports - soccer, volleyball, cheerleading, golf, and tumbling. Even as a little girl in elementary school, I remember telling my Mom in the middle of the soccer season that I didn’t like the sport because when I run it hurts. Later in my childhood as I focused on a few of my favorite sports, running was used as a punishment when we missed too many serves in volleyball or failed to spot the flier during stunts in cheerleading. Running was also used as conditioning to build up our endurance. So running was never fun - it was always utilized for another greater purpose. 

After I graduated college and began adult life, I missed sports and training for something. Whenever I was growing up there was always a skill I was working towards in the sports I participated in. In volleyball, I worked extra long and hard hours to get my overhand serve. In cheerleading, I lifted weights so I could get stronger to do stunts. In golf, I would put in extra hours to improve my short game. I was always invested in improving my skills in my sports. I missed that. 

During my first year of teaching, I heard about the teacher run club at my school. I joined because I thought it would be a fun avenue for some accountability to exercise. Shortly after joining, I was persuaded to sign up for Austin’s Cap10k, the largest 10k race in Texas. I had never participated in a 5k or 10k run or let alone run over 2.5 miles, so it was slightly intimidating and would be a huge undertaking. But I was willing to give it a go!

My husband also decided to join so we signed him up too and began a training plan together. Drew and I stayed committed and followed our training plan. Sometimes it was tough to choose to run on a Saturday morning instead of sleeping in or indulging in our favorite relaxation activities. On the day of the Cap10k race in April, a bad storm came through Austin. The race got delayed…and then it was canceled. We were so devastated!! 

Fortunately, a week later my middle school run club got together to run our own 10k at the park we had been running and training at. So technically, I finished my first 10k!! Also, fortunately, the Cap10k let us register for free the next year. Well, we all know what happened in 2020. The world shut down so of course they canceled the largest 10k race in Texas. We got another free voucher for the next year. In 2021, COVID was still keeping large events from happening, so the race got canceled…yet again. Not only was it sad for us because we still had not run an official 10k race, but it was extra devastating because in both 2020 and 2021, we still went through a 10k running training plan in preparation for these races. It was so disappointing to work hard to build up our endurance, wake up early on Saturdays for our long runs, and not be able to accomplish our goal of running an official 10k race. 

In 2022, the Cap10k was happening! Finally! However, I couldn’t bring myself to sign up for it. I was convinced it was bad luck for us to try to run this race (which is so silly…I know). However, I was still really motivated to run and finish a 10k race. We settled upon a 10k race that was happening in Plano (DFW area) benefiting local first responders. In May of 2022, we completed our first official 10k race!! We even got a blinking medal to prove it!

I was very unsure what to expect. But in the end, we both loved it! We loved the energy, the atmosphere, and the running community. Everyone was very encouraging and uplifting. 

After we finished our first official 10k race, we knew we wanted to continue to be a part of the running community. We knew our running journey was not going to end there. 

A year later, in 2023, we finally ran the Cap10k! We followed a training plan and woke up early on race day to head to downtown Austin. We were praising God for good weather and the ability to run!! It was so much fun to run through some of my favorite parts of Austin. If you’re a runner or want to experience a race, I highly recommend the Cap10k!! 

After we finished this race, we both knew once again that our running journey wasn’t over. We want to push our body and our mind to the limit…we got inspired to run a half marathon! 13.1 miles!!! More than double a 10k distance. The idea of pushing our bodies and striving toward a new goal is exciting to me. Once again, I love the feeling of working hard and pushing my body’s limits because it can do some really amazing things. 

We have chosen a very fun race for our very first half marathon. More details to come on that soon, but I hope my story can be an encouragement for people to put on some tennis shoes and start running. You don’t have to be fast or you don’t have to run far. Start slow and challenge yourself. 

It blows my mind to reflect on my running journey. From being a little girl to throughout high school to now with it being the sport I’m most involved in. 

Maybe I can now say that I hated running…past tense! Because I kind of like it now! Stay tuned for the final word on that one!