I miss running!!!

I have been cross-training on the elliptical, and pool-running for a few weeks, but they are poor cousins to actually running. Last night after the spin class I jumped onto the elliptical (again) and tried to get into my “happy” place, but I just couldn’t get there.  I kept looking over at my friend Julie (a future Ironwoman in training), and wished that I was running on the treadmill beside her.  So like an addict in need of a fix, I found myself, moments later, on that treadmill next to her pushing on the speed button. I began to run.

“Don’t do it!!!!”  Julie pleaded, “don’t do it”. So I stopped, frustrated and still in need of a fix. 

I miss running so much I wrote a story about my first race. This is why I run….

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I’m squished. Squished-in like corralled cattle. Thousands of people joined together on a narrow 2-lane street for one purpose – to run. The noise of the crowd is deafening, but I am alone in this pack and in no need of a voice.  Silently, I wait for the sound of a gun.  I can barely form a thought.  My heart is pounding through my chest. My legs feel drained from the excitement.  I am petrified.

BANG!!! The pistol goes off, but no one around me moves. We are blocks behind the elite runners, and it will take a few minutes for the wave to be upon us. Slowly, the firmly packed herd moves forward – the anticipation still demanding precious energy from my limbs. The rubber matt is in sight. Once crossed the voyage to the finish begins. I fixate on the black carpet with its electrodes, waiting to start the timer that wraps around my ankle.  

At the finish of my first race.

The sounds have changed and my attention now shifts from the road to the drove that is in front of me. There are thousands of runners, bobbing up and down, visible only because of the route’s decent. I am overwhelmed – overwhelmed by this magnificent sight and my emotional reaction to it. The journey that has led me here has been a long, personal one, and I am in the moment.

Elation keeps my feet from touching the ground. Floating down the road, I feel a tear stream down my cheek. A fleck of embarrassment is quickly rejected when another follows. I give in to the emotion, laughing and crying, I wipe tears away for 2k of this 10k run.  

This is my first race.