Runner in Training

"I often hear people say 'I'm not a real runner.'  We are all runners, some just run faster than others, that's all.  I have never met a fake runner."  -- quote from Runners World magazine.

I didn't write down who said that quote but it really resonated with me yesterday when I read it.  Even after eight weeks of training, I don't really consider myself a runner.   Most of my training consists more of walking than running so it seemed logical to me.  But, I realized that I was not giving myself enough credit for the training I have accomplished.  While I still don't really think of myself as a runner yet, I am definitely a "runner in training."  In any case, I AM an athlete and working so hard to accomplish this goal.

So today's training was four miles.  I went to the gym today for my training and decided that I was going to run one lap followed by walking two.  I have been doing my training on an indoor track that is 12 laps to the mile and today's training was on an indoor track that is 9 laps to the mile so running the lap was longer than I usually do.  After three miles, I was exhausted.  BUT, I persevered, kicked my mental butt, and kept going.  Happy to report that I completed the entire four miles following the pattern I had set even though it was difficult, setting a new PERSONAL RECORD in the process!  My mental goal was to complete in with the pattern and in less than one hour.  I finished at 59:49...a full eleven seconds to spare!!  I don't think I could have kept up that pace for another mile but I was still happy to have achieved my goal!!