Do You Run or Are You a Runner?

I began this morning hesitant to get up because I was nervous about having to run 9 miles today. Only one other time in my life have I ran this distance. As I prepared myself for the inevitable, I ate breakfast, doddled about and then finally stretched and headed out. 

I didn't think I was feeling it this morning

I like to play games with myself when I run. Sometimes I don't allow myself music until a big hill so the music can help push me up the then-feeling Mt. Everest. Sometimes I won't put music on until I'm half way through my distance, etc. It's a way of rewarding myself on the run and to break up the time and distance a little bit. 

It's amazing how a small hill can feel like a mountain

As reluctant as I was to get out there this morning, I was surprisingly feeling great at mile four. My body had warmed up and I'd hit a decent stride. My breathing felt smooth and the pace I was going at felt natural. Low and behold, I was enjoying myself. WTF?! Could this be?

I kept running, thinking FOR SURE, by mile 6 (maybe 7) I would regret that thought and start moving slower, breathing heavier and looking like death to the passerby driving along my route. But it never came. I felt victorious. I felt free. How could this be?

Really?! Really?!

I have written over the year about whether I could be considered a runner or not. I googled a few times what the definition of a runner was and always felt the description felt short:

run·ner/ˈrənər/

Noun:

A person who runs, esp. in a specified way: "a fast runner". A person who runs competitively as a sport or hobby A person, animal, or thing that runs, especially as a racer.

At one point, I thought, surely, I must be a runner if someone else calls me one, right? I waited anxiously for months for someone to call me a runner and when my Executive Director at work sent me an email a few months back with a link and said "since you are a runner now, I thought you'd enjoy this" I was elated and then instantly deflated because it didn't resonate with me. 

Back to the run: I get to a hill along the route, and I push myself to run faster up it...the faster I go, the more I make this hill my b*tch and the faster I can feel proud for getting over the hurdle. I smile at the top because I know I am a bad ass in my own right at this moment. And I feel good because that 'Mount Everest' ended up being less than the first pit stop towards the summit :) 

It was at this moment of thought that it finally hit me. I AM a runner. A legitimate runner who doesn't do a run because they have to get cardio in and running is the most effective way to burn calories outside of swimming laps, etc., but a person that enjoyed running and wanted to keep doing so. 

I reflected on what I have learned and experienced since I started running and began devising a list as I finished out the 9 miles on what makes one a runner in my book. 

Here it is à la Jeff Foxworthy

You might be a runner if:

1. The treadmill and your knees have become arch enemies
2. You look pale after a run not because you are exhausted, but because you have layers upon layers of salt crystals covering your face
3. You no longer look forward to crosswalks because now you have to stop and take a break
4. Miles fly by as fast as your brain can process a complete thought
5. You have an ‘injury of the week’ and wonder ‘what’s it going to be this Saturday?’, yet still get up and run again
6. The treadmill has become that awkward friend that you try at all costs to avoid but still have to see every once in awhile when your other friends (trails, sidewalks, roads) are busy getting snowed on
7. You laugh when people say they are sore
8. You’ve ashamedly poo’ed in more places during a run in a fit of panic and pray that there won’t be a ‘next time’ and that if there is you’ll be just as lucky not to get caught
9. You can run upright and not crooked forward trying to get farther faster so you’ll be finished sooner
10. Tying your shoe correctly has come down to a science
11. Your significant other only sees you in gym clothes and your perfume has become whatever deodorant you are wearing
12. Your boogers immediately liquefy after mile 1 and you have to continually blow your nose “boy scout style” the remaining duration of the run
13. Your camel back is more stylish and important to you than your new Coach bag
14. You have tried more than one home remedy for the chafing of the fat between your legs
15. You know you have to wear a good sports bra prior to and during menstruation because somehow your boobs manage to weigh an extra 5 lbs each
16. Male runners talk to you about nipple chafing with their t-shirts and envy your sports bra
17. Your shoes are worn out because of all the miles you've ran, even though they still look perfect & brand new 
18. Your short runs have become the average person’s long runs
19. A hot tub has become a necessity instead of an excuse to drink w/ friends
20. You look at your version of Mt. Everest, pick up your pace, stomp that sonofabitch and smile leaving your sweat and fears back on the pavement

I must admit that thinking of this honest list the last couple of miles made them slip right by AND caught me in a giggle fit at one point and a few blushing moments in the next. 

So, the question is, do you run for the sake of accomplishing another goal or are you a RUNNER too!? See you next week!

Love w/ all my bum,

CH