Forever a RUNNER.

I started running in the 7^th grade.  At my middle school we had these “fitness miles” where once a month we had to run a mile as fast as we could during our P.E. hour. Now, if I was a normal 7^th grade girl, I would not run. I would speed walk.  I would get the mile done and not sweat a drop, even in the Arizona heat. However, if you know anything about me, you know that I don’t take any athletic challenge lightly. Let’s just say I took those “fitness miles” a little more seriously than the normal 7^th grade girl. The goal was to not only beat all the speed walkers out on the dirt track, but more importantly, beat the boys!

 I was hunched over after one of those miles, spitting and most definitely sweating, when my P.E teacher came up to me and handed me an orange piece of paper. It was a registration sheet. I don’t remember struggling with the decision to sign up for my first ever running race like I struggled with my IRONMAN sign-up. Maybe it’s because I had never run a race before, so my nerves couldn’t talk me out of it. Or, maybe I just signed up because I beat the boys that day at the mile challenge, so I was feeling confident. I don’t remember, but for whatever reason, my running career officially started in the 7^th grade.

After that first race, came middle school cross country and track, and then high school cross country and track, and finally collegiate cross country and track at DePauw University.  Throughout all of these life phases and changes, cross country and track were constant. Running was stable. I was a four-sport varsity athlete in high school and I took all of those sports seriously, but as I look back, there is no denying that I identified myself firstly, as a runner.  And apparently, I still do.

Yesterday, I swam 3,000 yards. For a swimmer, this may seem insignificant, but for a runner I was pretty pumped. I was swimming next to an older gentleman who said: “you look like you know what you’re doing…. can you tell me whether this pool is in meters or yards.” I didn’t even hesitate. I confidently said that the pool was in meters, clearly the mindset of a runner. (Notice above…. I wrote 3,000 yards because the pool is NOT in meters.) Then the man asked me, “So how long have you been a swimmer?” Like word vomit I said, “Actually, I’m not a swimmer. I’m a runner.” 

As I was doing my cool down I thought about the little lane chat I had with the gentleman. I had to laugh at myself.  I visualized myself standing in the pool next to him in my cap, goggles, and Speedo endurance suit and telling him straight faced and slightly offended that I was NOT a swimmer, but a runner. I smiled because I could swim 5,000 meters…. I mean yards… and I would still call myself a runner. 

I may be training for one of the most grueling endurance races there is for swimming, biking, and running, training to achieve the title of: IRONMAN -  but I much prefer a simpler title. One that I picked up way back in 7^th grade…..I’m a runner.