the runner girl

I’ve ran around the block many times and I’ve ran around the block alone. It’s nice to hear the sound of my own feet that have carried me so far for this long. But what I would like to hear is the sound of the people who have watched me this long open their front doors and run with me. I want to know that I’ve ran around the block to not just make an effect on myself but on others. 

As a runner, you must know that you are a runner. You must believe it or the mind that is not trained for the endurance and strength that you need will pull you down. You must know that what sets you on the street, road, or course is what sets you apart from the people on the sidelines or in their homes watching you pass by. What sets you apart is that you are a runner, and you must know that or you will only be like everyone else.

I’ve never just ran to run and run where ever or to anyone or for anything but for the reason that we were made with legs that were made to move.

I always wondered at the foot of every starting line why I would feel so shaken up with anxiety. My heart would race before the race even started and at the sight of all the runners standing beside me I would become overwhelmed with nervousness. Then I realized, at the end of every race, the run I led was my own and whether or not there were runners behind, beside, or in front of me, the results that I made were my own. And if I should be nervous, it was for the fact that I might fail myself, and not by places in which I was between other runners.

The simple idea of a runner to a normal person would be that we are not aware of any other physical activity but running. As a runner, I can say I have had my share in multiple sports. But also, I can say that neither basketball, softball, tennis, nor volleyball has ever given me such strength and perspective on physical activity as running has.

 I remember the day I gave myself away to running. I was a vulnerable, young girl of 9 and I told my stepdad that I wouldn’t bring my kick scooter with me to the trail that day. I would run the 3 miles with him. And I did. And from that day on, I’ve never backed down from running or never been afraid to run the miles ahead of me.

I remember back to when I was young and never knew a thing about running and I realize if I never would’ve started I would’ve been a totally different person.

Running has gotten me through pain and it has put me in it. But no matter what age I am or where ever I am; when I hear someone back down from running because of how hard it will be, I will know that I made it past that wall and found out pain is what made me stronger and what made me a runner and what made me love it.

Running. It get’s past the skin, the muscles, and the bones. It goes farther than a few scrapes, a sprained ankle, and broken toes. Running get’s past the tangible; the medals, the times, the trails, and the races. Running is an energy that doesn’t just roll through your legs and arms in motion. It breaks into your mind, it sculpts your thoughts, and makes you into a different person with a different attitude, a different perspective, and a different strength of mind.

Run fast, they said. Pass people, they said. But I say, how about you get out there and do it. It is not as easy as it sounds.