What Is A Runner?

As I was at the gym this morning I really thought about that question.  What is a runner?  Is it the Olympic athlete, is it the marathon runner that lives down the street, is it person on the cover of Runners World?  Or is it the person who is running down the street, the one who is pushing themselves to run one mile, the person at the gym who is sweating up a storm?  Now, I believe that all of these people are runners.  But even at the beginning of the summer I didn't even think I was a runner.  I looked in the mirror and would think, "I am not what a runner looks like." When I was told I was a runner, I replied with, "I run, but I'm not a runner."  Now it's different...

Are we runners?

After our first track workout, June 2011

After really thinking about it, a runner doesn't have to look a certain way, or run at a certain pace or length.  A runner is a person with a goal that involves running.  To some people that goal may be to run through one song on their iPod to others it may be to finish a marathon in under four hours.  Either way, a goal is a goal.  No one can have the same goal because no one is training with the same internal and external factors.  Everyone is different, but everyone is a runner.  A mile is mile whether you run it in 6:00 minutes or 15:00 minutes, we all went the same distance.

So what is my goal right now?  Well, I have a few goals.  My long term goal is to be able to run years from now, so I have to take care of myself properly before and after each run.  My goal for Marine Corps Marathon is to run it under 4:30:00, a huge goal, but a goal non-the-less.  I'd like to run VA Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon on September 3rd in 2:00:00.  By the end of the summer, I'd like to have run a timed mile in under 8:00 minutes.  Goals come in different shapes and sizes, just like runners.  Make a goal and GO FOR IT!  It's ok if it changes along the way, remember, you're out there running the same mile at the person before you and the person after you, but it's YOUR mile...focus on YOU!

My two sisters and I after the GW Parkway 10 miler, April 2011

Our goal: To run with Jessica (middle) as she finished 10 miles on her birthday, 2 months after she had her 3rd baby...AMAZING!

My most important goal is to get my right knee healthy again so it isn't hurting during runs.  On and off since March my knee has been bothering during, but mostly after runs.  To the point where I can't bend it or straighten it without pain.  I began seeing a doctor in May and just in the last two weeks have we really figured out the solution.  I'm only running 3 days a week, one day on my own, one day a track workout, and the last day is a long run.  My other 3 workout during the week involve cross training (biking, elliptical, stair stepper, etc.)  I have to stretch and ice EVERY TIME I workout, and yes, that may be annoying, but it is saving my knee.  Before I would really only ice after my runs, which helps, but isn't enough.  Although my goal with my knee has taken time, I am finally seeing results and THAT puts a smile on my face!

Fort Worth YMCA Turkey Trot with my cousin Paige, Thanksgiving 2010

So with all these goals and a different state of mind...

I AM A RUNNER AND SO ARE YOU!