Wow, I looked at my site today and realized that I crossed the 250 mile mark. As of yesterday’s run, I have run 252 miles so far this year. I’ve never hit that running milestone before, nor did I ever think I would.
That is farther than the distance from Boston to New York. Or Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Or for you mid-westerners, Chicago to Ann Arbor, MI.
A year ago, I was struggling to run 3 miles. A year before that, I couldn’t run 2 miles without stopping to walk. Now, the mileage is really adding up since I regularly run 6 miles instead of 3 for my short run days. And my long runs are now in the double digits. I can’t even guess how many miles I’ll have run by the end of the year. I would like to believe that I’ll do more than another 100 miles but it is totally possible that I’ll do even more than that.
Things I’ve learned in 250 miles:
- Don’t expect that cars will move over for you. I believe it’s due to the driver’s own self-loathing more than a desire to run me down, but some people actually seem bothered to have to move over, and some just don’t.
- A Velcro shoe pocket filled with money and a debit card is invaluable. I have used it not only to purchase water on the run, but also as a source of motivation. “If I finish this run, I’ll stop at that store I love during the walk home…”
- Races. Signing up for a race is key to maintaining motivation. If you don’t have a race coming up, what are you training for?
- There is nothing better than the look of people’s faces when you tell them you just ran x number of miles. If I’ve run 8 or more miles that day, I will go out of my way to work it into a conversation, especially with people that don’t know I run. First they are surprised that my overweight body can run that many miles, then they start making excuses why they can’t. It’s fun to watch people squirm.
- Anyone can run. You just have to try. And don’t give up.