I guess I’m a runner now?

By: 
Gray Hughes

There’s something I’ve started doing that I hated when I was younger: running.

When I was younger, I hated running. I’ve always associated running with some sort of punitive thing from lacrosse. Nothing makes me have flashbacks to childhood terror like hearing a whistle and someone yell, “Get on the end line!” after we were goofing around too much at practice.

Not only did I hate running, I was bad at it, too. Meaning I was slow. If I wasn’t the slowest kid on the team then I was definitely one of the slowest. Which is embarrassing. There’s no worse feeling than watching your teammates finish a suicide (a name that has always confused me) knowing that I still have to run the length of the field one more time.

Shoot, I remember one time during my junior year of high school (10 years ago now somehow) I was going on vacation to Puerto Rico at the beginning of lacrosse season. I promised my coach that I would run. Well, I can tell you that the only running I did was from my spot on the beach to the cabana. Needless to say, when I came back even heavier and more out of shape my coach wasn’t happy! No wonder why he never liked me….but I digress.

That season of lacrosse was the last time I ever seriously ran until recently. I tried running in college and my first few years post grad, but the combination of being heavy and having two bum knees made it a losing effort. Needless to say, I wrote off running as a part of my life.

I even tried to run a few 5ks. Those didn’t go too well, either. I was woefully out of shape and fat. That combination with the bad knees made them a living nightmare. I wound up walking most of them, which is embarrassing because my super athletic family was all waiting for me at the finish line.

Then something changed.  I was getting in better shape, and I felt like I could actually do some running, So, last September, my mom and I ran the Gritty 5k to raise money for Flyers Charities. And you know what? I wound up really liking running.

So I made a vow to myself that once the weather gets nicer I’ll start running more. Which is exactly what I’ve done.

Now I have to say that running is definitely my favorite way to work out. It combines being outside (something I love) with a fully body workout (something I need to do) and cardio (something I need more of).

I’m still not a great runner, but I’m getting better. The first few times I went out it was rough. I’m not gonna lie. Yes, I ran more than I walked, but I felt like I could pass out by the time I got back. Now it’s different. I can run three miles without stopping, which might not sound like a lot but for someone who hasn’t been able to run a mile without stopping in literally 10 years while suffering two torn ACLs, a broken leg and probably 125 pounds gained and then subsequently lost during that time period I’d call that impressive.

And I’ll tell you what: I am never more confident than when I am on a run. I went for a trail run by my house the other day. When I was doing it I was thinking, “Yes! I love this! By the end of the summer I want to run a marathon!”

Well, my hopes and dreams were dashed when I got back to my house and realized it took me an hour to run about four miles. At that rate it would take me about six and a half hours to run a marathon. Maybe I should focus on something more attainable like a 5K before I think about a marathon.

But either way running is something I want to do more of going forward. I know I’m not going to set any land speed records or will be running marathons any time soon, but I haven’t felt this good in a long time thanks to running.

User login