I started running right about five years ago. A friend I met at work recently moved to Vegas and I knew she was a runner so I told her “I think I’m going to try running.” This was in May of 2015. She congratulated me and invited me to fly out and run Rock n Roll Half Marathon...in November with her. I couldn’t even make it down the block, but I accepted.
I COULDN’T MAKE IT DOWN THE BLOCK.
November 14, 2015 I ran my first race ever. I was excited and terrified and had only run a little over 8 miles at any one time. She stayed with me the entire time and we crossed in 2:21:03. I didn’t know if that was fast or slow but I felt like I did something so much bigger than I ever thought possible with my asthma.
I was hooked. But I didn’t know many runners and I mostly ran alone, which worked well with my social anxiety. Gradually, I started meeting people in the running community and signing up for more races, mostly to keep me accountable. I’m terrible at following a training plan, but I kept lacing up and I kept logging miles.
Fast forward to some time in 2017. A woman came into the store I was working at to shop for a gift for her daughter. Somehow we started talking about running and she told me about the women’s running group she was in and I should check it out. I went online and requested to join but was unsure since it was called Mom’s Run This Town/She Runs This Town. Do I even belong without being a mom? Again...anxiety. But I’d meet some of the women at races and practically run away from them at the start. Once I started communicating with them instead of running from them, I realized there were a lot of women without children and I had a lot in common with so many of the women outside of running. Slowly my fears started to subside and I made some amazing friends as a result.
Over the past three years that running group has supported me and inspired me and definitely helped squash my social anxiety. At first I thought it was just them, but when I look around the running community here in the Louisville area and all over the country and the world, I realize that’s just runners. And I knew that I had found my people.
I don’t normally log a lot of miles every month and because I work in sales I miss a lot of group runs on the weekends, but I keep running. I’ve been temporarily laid off as a result of the COVID-19 and at first I was really depressed about it. Then I realized it would be an opportunity to be able to gain some consistency in my running. So I unintentionally started streaking. I know it’s hard on a lot of our community that are used to meeting friends to run together, so I just keep trying to reach out and be supportive. After all, the support I’ve received over the years is what has kept me lacing up and showing up. Because of that support and encouragement I'll be running The Chicago Marathon in October as my first.