Thursday, August 20, 2009

The New TIART

Its a new TIART with a whole new twist. Check out Runners' Lounge for this weeks topic which is brought to you by Marlene! She asks:

When did you know you had become a runner? Was there a defining moment, or was it a gradual progression over time?

There is one defining moment that sticks out in my mind when I definitely DID NOT call myself a runner.

It was about 10 years ago and I was a spunky 13 year old. I was going to try out for the JV soccer team and so my parents were forcing helping me to prepare. I did not like running at all and I would have done anything to avoid it. One day my mom made me run home and it was straight uphill. This was the biggest hill EVER. I was about 2/3 to the top when I stopped on the side of the road and just laid down and cried. Yes - I laid down and cried on the side of the road. I was 13, my hormones were crazy or something. Anyway, my mom was flabbergasted and yelled at me to get up. I eventually did and made it to the top of the hill. The end.

From that point on there were a few other signs, many of which I chose to ignore that pointed to me being a runner.

1. I started to enjoy the tortuous distance workouts my high school soccer coached dished out.

2. I signed up for a 15k race after my freshman year of college and was bitten by the running bug.

3. I became a "morning runner" and loved it.

4. I ran a half marathon with my best friend.

5. I went out for the college Track team.

There really is no set time when I started calling myself a runner. But for sure I know that I call myself a runner now.

Happy Thursday! Almost time for the weekend!

15 comments:

Nicole said...

Cute Story! Thanks for sharing!!! Have a great weekend girl!

No Longer Using said...

oh my gosh i wouldn't have been able to handle that if my mom made me run home uphill!!!!!!!!! and lol that you really laid down and cried!!!!! talk about a priceless memory to the start of a running career!!! i'm sure at the time it wasn't priceless at all but looking back..! hehehe. and look at you now. i love these new TIaRTs!!!!!!!

Amy said...

Haha, I would've cried too. I think everyone hated running at some point. Look how far we've come!

Aron said...

i love hearing everyones "becoming a runner" stories :)

Jeri said...

hahah I love the story. :)

Marlene said...

There have been a few times when I've been very tempted to lay down and cry on the side of the road. More than I care ot mention! LOL!

Thanks for playing along! :)

Anonymous said...

Fun story! There have been several times when I wished I would just sit down in cry, but we keep moving forward. Have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

Make sure you thank your Mom for making you run up that hill. Great post !

N.D. said...

That was fun to read :)

X-Country2 said...

Cute story. THose have all been a hoot to read.

Being Robinson said...

such a dramatic start to running! ha, i love it!

Glenn Jones said...

Great post J. You know, all through High School I hated running becuase it was used more as drill and punishment when I was playing basketball and tennis. If I would have only had the right coach...

And thanks for the kind words yesterday. The thing that was so cool about coming so close to my PR is I wasn;t even really trying. I actually *stopped* a couple of times to take pics of other runners I know.

Anonymous said...

haha that is too funny! I'm not sure what I would've done at 13 (14...15...16...lol) if my Mom tried to make me run a hill. This sounds pretty close to the direction my teenage self would've taken though! ;)

No Longer Using said...

LOL your list of books to read :) that's the problem, no matter how many i read the list never gets shorter. well i guess it's not a problem :)

Marci said...

Oh gosh your story reminds me being forced to swim, and now I love it. Cute post!