Why Would You Pay Money to Run?

 

This weekend my husband Jon and I ran the Surf City USA Marathon and Half Marathon, respectively. The race was in Huntington Beach, which is a super fun place to be, even if it is the OC. (No disrespect to Orange County, I was born there... but seriously. Ever since Laguna Beach I just can't take that place too seriously.) This wasn't either of our first races, but it was by far the largest, and Jon's first full marathon. Experiencing an event like this had me reflecting on some things I've learned over the years about runners.

There are several types of runners:

• The Elitist: this is the runner who can actually run a marathon (that's 26.2 whole miles) at a pace somewhere around 5-6 minute miles. For the entire course. (I believe the best time I've ever run a mile in is around 8:15. That was "sprinting", and I could stop when that one mile was over.) These are the kind of people you can look at and know immediately they are runners. Their bodies are made for it. When they enter a race with 16,000 other people, they are actually trying to win. These are the runners who wish people like me wouldn't sign up for marathons because we "lower the bar", and it seems that nowadays anyone can participate in a marathon. (See this http://gothamist.com/2009/10/23/you_call_that_marathon_running.php) Here's what I don't understand: how are the slower people getting in anyone's way? I still have never run a full marathon, but if I did, you fast people surely would never even see me. You'd be enjoying the finish line beer garden and probably wrapping up lunch long before I'd see the end of 26.2 miles.
• The Healthy, I-Run-to-Stay-Fit Runner: these people may not be able to keep up with Elitists, but they are super fit, live annoyingly healthy lifestyles, and seem to be perpetually training for the next race. If you let them know you're interested in running, or that you've signed up for a race 6 months from now, they get overly excited and running becomes the only thing they will talk about every time you run into them. They even offer to be your running partner, in which case you panic because really, they run twice as fast as you, and all you want to do is listen to your iPod, not run alongside someone gasping for breath and clutching at your heart as you talk about running while you're running.
• The Just-for-Fun Runner: I'm not sure why people who have never even walked a couple miles would hear about a 13.1 or 26.2 mile race and think to themselves "That sounds sounds entertaining! I'll do it!" But they're out there. I passed a bunch of them on Sunday. I love these runners, because most of them are attempting something that they most likely thought impossible mere months before the race. These runners are moms of every age, middle aged men and women who have beaten cancer, young people raising money in honor of a loved one, and even 85-year-old women (not gonna lie, I worry about the 85 year olds... they inspire me until I see them out on the course, then I want to put them on my back and carry them the rest of the way just so they don't keel over in the middle of the street). These runners wear shirts that say things like, "I'm slow, get over it" and "Does this T-shirt make my ass look fast?" They are awesome because they are out there, they are trying, and they have fabulous attitudes. They are also the only ones I can actually pass, so they make me feel super fast. 
• The Barefoot Runner: Yes, there are actually people who run barefoot. For 13 or 26 miles. Some of them wear funny looking shoes, like these: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com, some of them are truly barefoot. One of them passed me in the race Sunday, wearing only socks.  I cringed a little.
• The I-only-played-team-sports-in-high-school-and-since-none-of-my-friends-would-play-volleyball-with-me-I-had-to-find-something-else-to-keep-me-from-becoming-obese-and-my-best-friend-talked-me-into-signing-up-for-a-half-marathon-four-years-ago Runner: Me. 

I "dabbled" in running when I graduated from high school because it was easy to do alone, I didn't have to buy gear, and as much as I hated it, it made me feel somewhat proactive toward staying healthy. Then Lauren convinced me to attend a meeting for Team in Training, an organization that trains regular people to complete marathons, 1/2 marathons, triathlons, and century bike rides. All while raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We listened to the spiel, wrote our checks for $75, and walked away with our TNT water bottles (their abbreviation is TNT instead of TIT, for obvious reasons). We were going to run a 1/2 marathon! Oh, crap. 

We made our way through the training, and with about four weeks to go, I developed ITB Syndrome (it hurts... a common knee injury for runners), and Lauren gave herself a hairline fracture in her foot. After all our fund-raising, training, and enthusiasm for doing something that seemed impossible (yes, we fell into the "Just-for-Fun" category at the time), we were going to have to walk. Walk. 13.1 miles. We ended up starting and finishing together after 3 1/2 hours of walking next to the ocean, up and down some monster hills, on a gorgeous day in Santa Barbara. We just had to laugh. Until we got back to the hotel and had to sit in the bathtub in our shorts and sports bras while Nick and Jon dumped buckets of ice over us. (A post race ice bath was strongly suggested by our trainers... I will never sit in ice by choice again.) I couldn't walk for about a week after the race, but I will always be grateful that Lauren got me off my butt.

A couple years later, I had my daughter. Nothing could have prepared me for the brutality bestowed upon me by childbirth. I felt like I had been run over, several times, by a semi, and for at least two weeks it hurt just to walk to the bathroom. At that point I hadn't run in a long time. One reason was that my ITBS never fully went away, and if I overdid it, I could feel the lingering pain of my 2 1/2 year old injury, and I was terrified to push it too far. After having Kealani I was fully convinced I would never run again. Ha! I could hardly walk, how would I ever run?

Slowly but surely, my body went back to itself. A different version of itself, but itself nonetheless. I resumed my "dabbling" in running until K was almost a year and a half old. That's when I started to train for the first race since my walking debut in Santa Barbara. It was a 10K in Morro Bay, on the beach. I put up a training schedule on my fridge, and went for it. (I will only enjoy regular physical activities if I can cross them off a calendar as I go.) I loved it. I knew I was crazy. I was loving running. I felt strong, and in better shape than I'd been since my first training experience. That's when I decided that running was my thing. It has proven to be the best way for me to stay in shape and to be at my healthiest. So next came the 1/2 marathons. Again, I was terrified, since a 1/2 is more than twice the distance of a 10K, and the last time I'd attempted that distance I'd injured myself pretty badly. On 10-10-10, I ran the City to Sea race. Yes, I ran it! I felt so accomplished.

In the last seven months I've run the 10K and three 1/2 marathons. Now I'm taking a break. I will continue running, but not nearly as far. My body is ready for a break, and I want to treat it well so I can use it for a long time... but when I feel my competitive nature gnawing at me again, I'm sure I'll sign up for another race. (In the meantime I'd better stop eating so much. #1 reason to run a race: the t-shirt; #2 reason: so I can eat whatever I want.)

During my first training experience I learned that I can run pretty far. I also learned that a lot of people think runners are crazy. The first words out of Jon's mouth when I told him I wanted to sign up for a race after the baby were, "Why would you pay money to run?" Well, partly because you get a sweet t-shirt and a medal when you finish. But mostly because I feel healthy, strong, and accomplished when I reach a goal I've set for myself. It's something I very much hope to pass on to Kealani: not only can you do things you may have never thought you can do, but living an active and healthy lifestyle is fun. Will she be competitive to a fault, like her mom, or will she just be able to enjoy being active and outside, like her dad? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The Walking Wonders

P.S. There are plenty of other kinds of runners. The groups I listed stick out the most to me, and have lots of people representing them! I'm sure most people would fit into more than one group.