Why I Run

First off, I’ve been a bad blogger--I know! I won’t even give the regular “I’ve been so busy” excuses because I know we are all busy. I was so compelled to write this post that I’ve written piece by piece throughout the day--I definitely didn’t have a full hour to spare at once.

A little recap before I get to the good part--I recently ran my first 10k! My goal was to finish in under an hour, but I came in at 1:01:27. I was very disappointed & am already prepping for my second. Another big goal--I finally beat that 30 minute record for my 5k. I ran the Run Lucky 5k on March 11th in 29:37! I don’t have another 5k lined up, but I will probably shoot to beat this time in the fall. This summer, after my half marathon, I have a lot of fun running planned: two mud races & a Color Run!

Ready for a rainy 10k.

All decked out to get a PR for my 5k.

My favorite costume at the Run Lucky!

Also, I’ve recently been working with a nutritionist to make sure I get all the nutrients I need in my vegan diet to keep up my running/cross-training endurance. She wants me to aim to eat 90 g of protein--generally I eat around 50 g. Meal planning has taken some time, but Monday will be my first day with the new plan.

Ok, enough recap-ping! The title of this blog is “Why I Run.” Today I met up with the OK Landrunners for my weekly long run. The run was scheduled at the Oklahoma River {one of my favorite locations} & I was planning on running anywhere from 6-8 miles--depending on how I felt in the new shoes {New Balance Minimus [love!]} While I was waiting for the group to start--in walked one of my favorite running partners-Megan! It was such a great surprise & I knew then that this was going to be a great run. We decided on 7 miles & set off to complete our run.

 The new kicks.

The run was great. I felt like I had plenty of endurance & my knee/calf pain was very minimal. I am not injured--but the more minimal shoes have definitely given me a little muscle soreness. It was really nice to just run & not to worry about my pace. It’s nice running with Megan because we don’t get to hang out often so we get all that time to catch up!

I run for many reasons--first, for my fitness--but also for the challenge, for the time with friends & hopefully to inspire other non-athletic people and children. There are many people that show up for the Saturday long runs--various ages & various running skills {Megan’s mom is a rockstar & she inspires me to continue running even when my little man is grown.}

 Today at the end of our run, a man probably in his early to mid- forties thanked us. He had run behind us for the last half of his run. He said he just kept following us to the end. We didn’t stop & neither did he. This definitely made my day. I don’t know how many people I have focused on during a race--but those are the people that help get you to the end. You play mind games with yourself: “Don’t let grey shirt person get too far in front of you”, “keep blue shorts in your sight”. Today I was that person--leading someone to the end & it felt great. I immediately said to myself: “This is why I run.”

Why do you run? Any inspirational stories to share?