Small Victories

Care to be inspired? I thought you would be!

You might have seen that Nike commercial during the Olympics this summer. There were mixed reactions to it, but I think it is absolutely amazing!! It is one thing to witness carefully honed human bodies doing incredible, almost superhuman, feats in an Olympic event. Really, I loved watching the gymnastics and diving events as much as the next person. I also loved watching the USA basketball team achieve gold.

Love my OKC Thunder!!

It is another thing to witness ordinary human bodies accomplishing feats that are incredible for them and their circumstance. This 12 year old, 200 lb. boy, Nathan, is jogging at a slow pace, by himself, on an empty highway. There are no crowds cheering him on; no people are wearing his name on the back of a jersey; no one is clamoring for his autograph. He is simply jogging for himself at a comfortable pace because he knows that he only gets one body to live in; he wants to remodel his soul’s home. He is working hard toward his goal even with all the challenges that go along with trying to lose (and keep off) weight. Have you ever tried losing weight? In terms of difficulty, it is right up there with quitting smoking or any other major lifestyle change. (See my friend, Sabrina’s blog for an incredible success story, by the way! http://beautybloomswithstrength.blogspot.com/) 

Nathan is absolutely achieving greatness, one step at a time, slowly but surely. To many onlookers, his running a mile or two would seem like a small victory. It is big for him, though. And yes, as he keeps making progress, he will keep redefining success for himself and achieving new victories all the time. 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, right? I took my first single step in 2008, inspired by my sister-in-law. She had just run a marathon and assured our crazy-awesome family that we could all do it, too. I was excited to get started, both to lose some weight and to take part in something our whole family was working on. It was - and still is - quite the range of incredible people. We have a young, athletic sister who took to running easily, though she would probably rather be playing water polo with her friends. We have another sister, a kick-ass cancer survivor, who runs with the sweeper van behind her - slow and steady - laughing and talking with other walk/runners and volunteers along the way. Her goal? Have as much fun as can possibly be had along the race course and smile for every photo! We have a middle-of-the-pack cousin who has crossed the finish line and had time to stretch and shower before we even finish. We also have another amazing man who I’m proud to call my husband. He used to be at the back of the pack but is getting faster all the time. I can’t wait to see all that he accomplishes! 

Then there’s me. 

I felt like an impostor in the beginning. I grew up with JRA and the mention of running for fun would have me laughing in your face. I had never found any balance as far as physical fitness. Just getting a combination of medications that worked was challenging enough. Trying to exercise in a way that could be helpful and not harmful (or painful) to my joints was like balancing an egg on a toothpick: you end up with a mess that’s hard to clean up no matter what you do.

As a result, I just stopped trying. I quit dance class, I stopped swimming regularly, and I didn’t participate in any school sports. It was just easier. Who was I kidding? My real strength was in academics and that’s where I intended to make my mark. My parents didn’t really argue with me on that. C’mon, a Jewish family is almost always going to value the honor roll more than the track team, anyway. 

Unfortunately, my eating habits were impacted by my lack of exercise. They do go together, for better or worse. When one suffers, so does the other, and I was no exception. I remember sitting all day in high school and then coming home only to sit at my desk and do mountains of homework. Go to sleep, repeat cycle. In the course of the day, I would eat way more than I needed to and indulge my sweet tooth, too. My afternoon habit for a couple of years was to watch General Hospital with my mom while drinking a Coke (regular, not diet) and eating a whole grapefruit with sugar sprinkled on top...yes, it was a my Daily Carb Fest. 

College did not help either. No one was around to tell me I shouldn’t be eating this or that and more studying meant more ordering out. Besides, I didn’t know how to cook at all. Now, I’ve made a lot of progress in that these past few years thanks to the Food Network and my awesome chef of a husband encouraging me to try new foods.

Anyway, when I first started running in 2008, the odds were not in my favor. I had experienced 21 years of fitness failure and though I was very optimistic, I did not expect much of a difference. Gratefully, I could not have been more wrong. 

I am now a runner. I don’t look like one, but then neither does Nathan. Or my husband. Or many of my sisters. We are still battling with weight loss, but running has already had a huge impact on our lives. We have the knowledge that we can run a really long distance when needed. For instance, I know I can run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in three and a half hours or less - I have done it seven times since 2008. We have the knowledge that we can endure harsh elements of all kinds: bitter cold and wind, sweltering heat and humidity, rain, sleet, snow; then there are elements beyond the weather - animals chasing us, cars nearly hitting us, potholes jumping up out of nowhere, cramps sidelining us, bowel troubles, wardrobe malfunctions, you name it, we’ve found it on the run. 

Mid run during my 2nd half marathon!
I was feeling phenomenal. You would be too
if you were running through Disney World! 

A year later, half marathon #5 for me, same race course as in the previous photo. Absolutely frigid temperatures! I'm smiling but have never felt colder.

I am a runner because I run. Since I took that first single step in 2008 in old sneakers on a track, I have run more than one thousand miles on various roads, treadmills, and tracks. I hit the 1,000 mile mark this summer on an ordinary training run. Like Nathan, it was a big victory made up of lots of small victories all added together. Lots of hard work. Lots of days when, honestly, I did not feel like running or I did not want to make the time for it. I pushed through and have never regretted a workout. Yes, it feels amazing to see the tally in my running log, currently sitting at around 1,061 miles or so. All the more amazing because it was never a given that I would be where I am now! 

I truly love this sport and am grateful for all it has given me. Now is when I reassess, redefine what success looks like for me in the running world. I have hit 1,000 miles and I cannot wait to see what the next 1,000 miles holds in store. 

At some point I want to...

1. Run a marathon
2. Do a triathlon event
3. Run a race in all 50 states
4. Set a new half marathon PR
5. Plan and direct a race to benefit RA research

In the shorter term, however, success will include increasing my pace and decreasing my weight through more running and cross training. 

Greatness can be found in all of us, from Olympic athletes to rookie runners to experienced athletes looking for a fresh start. John “The Penguin” Bingham is known for saying that “the miracle isn’t that you finished, but that you had the courage to start”. So, be willing to start, no matter what stage you are at in your life and then just go from there. Compare yourself only to yourself. Find your greatness.