Start Somewhere!

Those of you that know me, know that I love to run. Some people love yoga. Some

people love CrossFit or Boot Camp. I love to run. I do enjoy cross-training as well, but

running is just something I’m not willing to go without. At the time of this writing, running

has been a part of my life for a little over 9 years. What you may not know is that I didn’t

always love it. How I got started is actually a funny story. I was attending a ladies Bible

study at the time and the gals in the group were participating in a challenge to train for a

marathon that was coming up in a few months, and I thought “why not”? This will be fun!

I always enjoy good exercise! This was perfect! At the time, I didn’t even know how

many miles a marathon was. I thought a marathon was just a name for races, and had

different miles depending on the race. I actually had a friend tell me once that he was

training for a marathon. I said “Congratulations! How many miles is this particular race?”

He said “Sharon, um, it’s a marathon. They’re always 26.2 miles.” I’m embarrassed of

my ignorance back then, but it is laughable. So I started the training. I couldn’t run 20

seconds without stopping to take a 5 minute walk break. My breathing was out of sync.

My legs ached. Muscles were sore that I didn’t even know existed. It didn’t take long to

realize that I was not going to be ready for a marathon any time soon, and my desire to

run a marathon had disappeared somewhere between “this will be fun!” and “I hate

running”. Yep. I said it. As much as I love it now, I did go through a season at the

beginning where I thought people who run are crazy. But I had already started training,

and I wasn’t quite ready to give up that easily just because my initial goal was a little

more than I expected. This particular race event had several distances available. So I

registered for my first 5K. For those of you who don’t run and are like I was, not knowing

any distances in miles, a 5K is 3.1 miles. 3.1 miles. Okay, I could do that. So I did what

any smart beginner would do and looked for help. I teamed up with my Dad (he is still

my running partner to this day), who at the time had already been running for about 25

years and is a great coach! He helped me work up to that 5K distance and come race

day, I was ready!!! I ran that first race and was hooked. I was overwhelmed at the sea of

people that came out to run, and although I ran this one solo (my Dad of course was

registered for the half-marathon) I was not alone. Leading up to race day I remember

thinking,”What if I come in last? That would be so embarrassing!” There were so many

runners that day at different levels of experience, I just felt proud to be out there, giving

it my best with others who were doing the same. I remember crossing that finish line

and getting that first medal put around my neck. I had run 3.1 miles in a race! I had

finished! And there were people that finished before me and people that finished after

me. I wasn’t last! As I approached the tables of bananas and muffins and bins of water

and milk chocolate, hearing all the cheers from kind on-lookers “Great job! You did it!

Way to go!” all I could think was “When can I do this again?!”

Since then I have run many 5Ks, 15Ks and about 10 half marathons. Nine years later

and I still haven’t run the distance that got me started running in the first place. I think

about this and have to say I’m glad at least I started. I may not have completely

understood what I was getting myself into, but I started. I had to adjust my plan, but I

started. It seems like it is this way with many things in life. Sometimes there are things

we know we are supposed to do, but we’re not really sure what we’re doing or what to

expect. So we just sit and we wait. It’s in those times that I think it’s just important to

start. You may have to adjust your plan. You may realize the goal you thought you

wanted was someone else’s goal, and now you get to define your own goals. You have

to start somewhere. We get better and stronger as we go, but we have to start

somewhere.

What is it that the Lord is waiting for you to start? Where is it that you need to get

moving so He can direct your steps? You know you have to be moving in order to be

guided somewhere. So lace up and get going! Great things are in store. Start today!