My Running Canvas
When we are born, we begin with a blank canvas. Along the way, we add different strokes & colors to it. Running is such a canvas. Every runner begins on the same blank page. Some are blessed to run long, some short & fast, some slow. If you are born with fast twitched muscles, you might become Usain Bolt. Slow, you might become John Bingham -“The Penguin.” Or long, you might become Dean Karnazes.
In my eyes, they are equally successful. The common denominator is that it all involves running.
Running is like getting your degree. We begin as kindergartners: learning the basics, how to run from the 1st lamp post to the next. Then we go further from one block to the next, 1/4 mile loop, 1 mile loop and so on. The knowledge we acquire along the way allows us to venture further and further. What a feeling when we are able to run non-stop for that first half hour to one full hour.
It really is about putting one foot in front of the other.
As you build up your canvas, you become more confident, and your life becomes more colorful.
One day you’ll wake up and say “I AM A RUNNER!!!”. From that day onward, you will begin to build your dreams.
My running dreams began with my first marathon. I trained for a full 16 weeks. I bought all the running books available for first time marathoners. I followed the training program to a tee. I even did hill work! My “hill work” was this ramp that I would run up & down for about 10-12 times once a week. I laugh about it now. But I was so determined! On marathon day, I had the most fun of anybody on that course. I will never forget my first – the Portland Marathon (I still have the petals from the Portland rose they handed to each female finisher at the end). What a game-changing moment!
From that first marathon on, I never ever imagined that I would go on to run successive marathons.
But 14 years later, I have become a marathon “aficionado.” I LOVE every minute and every moment when I run. My canvas is getting fuller and I am slowly filling it up with the colors I like. And when I finally complete my full canvas, I hope it will be a WORK OF ART!
Happy running everyone!