When I first tried running, it was difficult. I had no training, no high school or college experience on a track or cross country team. I had no knowledge of shoes, fabrics, supplements or distances. I walk-ran as I could down country roads then at the local metro-parks.

I saw slow progress. Eventually, my husband bought me a Garmin watch. I felt I hadn't "earned" it. At the time I had finally reached three miles & was regularly logging weekly miles with my stop watch. That gift was a pivotal moment, however. I may have "only" been going three miles... but I could see my weaknesses & strengths. I saw a strong start & a progressively slower pace. I saw miniscule improvements in distances that were impossible to track with a stop watch. I was able to see that I was slower at one trail than another because of elevation changes. I saw my times s-l-o-w-l-y getting faster or my mileage slowly getting longer. I decided I had to make the commitment to run a race, a 1/2 marathon. Why? There were many that were faster than me. There were many that "looked" like a runner. I didn't. I felt that the only way I could prove to others (mostly to myself) that I was a "real runner" was to have my name "on the books" & a medal in my hand.

Someone had planted a seed in my mind that "real runners" ran 9 minute miles or faster. At the time I was doing 10 minute miles. I didn't "FEEL" like a real runner... so I had to "prove" it by going "far" not "fast". I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon, locally, in Toledo.

I had a fateful day with a large, innocent puppy that forever changed my biomechanics.  I woke up the next morning & couldn't feel my legs. The lower half of my body was "asleep". The strange tingling sensation when your leg or arm falls asleep... no matter how hard you try to move, your muscles won't respond... I was in a full blown panic! This was one month before my first 1/2 marathon. I tried desperately to regain momentum but I "knew" I wouldn't be able to participate in Toledo's event. I couldn't walk, let alone run. I was in constant pain & aches... & continually hurting in other areas farther down the connective "chain". I came to understand... YEARS later... that my left leg had come out of socket at the hip and my Sacrum had displaced at the joints where it connected at my back/hips. I continued "running" as I could for four years in a constantly crippled, injured state. I felt pathetic & a poor excuse for a "runner". I continued training "solo" because my training was so erratic. Eventually... after feeling I was at the end of my rope, I turned to a chiropractor. I found some relief... but eventually left to a more aggressive treatment from another doctor. It was here, that I found pain free relief. Yoga has helped in conjunction with medical treatment.

I am currently finding my fastest race times. I am wiser about running shoes, fabrics & race distances. I am familiar with races, local runners, better eating habits & sports nutrition. Experience is an unforgiving teacher.

I shared my race times as I improved with the friend that planted the "definition" of a "runner" in my mind. He had originally said 9 minute miles were "real running times". When I shared my 9 minute race paces... He said in the same tone as he stated years prior: "You know, they say real running is 8 minutes per mile or faster..."

So... I FEEL more like a runner than I did years, ago. I've had moments of feeling like a "real runner". I am finally hitting 8 minute miles in shorter races. -Does that make me a "real runner"? I don't meet all of the standards some have laid out for a definition of a "real runner". (I have a slight idea that the pace time may shift again when I express my improved race times to my friend.) I run... I try... I sweat... I improve... I worry... I try again... With my Garmin, I see improvements in the right direction. My Garmin doesn't show the improvements of my smile, now with my husband running at my side. I am less fearful to toe the line because "I saw my numbers" of my last race. I want to push it faster at my next race... I need to prove it to the injured, untrained beginner that still lingers in my mind. I outrace the ghosts of people's voices that told me & laughed at me when I shared my goals of running. I'm still trying to prove myself... mostly... trying to prove it TO myself... You can overcome just about anything...