About half way through 8th grade I started running. I don’t remember exactly why I started it, but I’m pretty sure it had to do with at least one of these three reasons:
- 8th grade was my first year in public school and being the incredibly shy person that I am, I was surprised when I managed to make a few friends. I was even more surprised when I found out that a couple of these friends lived in my neighborhood. When I found out, I didn’t want to ask exactly where they lived, but I did want to know. So when my mom suggested I start jogging around in the neighborhood, a light bulb appeared above my head and I began jogging around the neighborhood trying to figure out exactly which houses belonged to whom.
- Before public school, I was never really exposed to societal views. I didn’t know that final scores weren’t really just numbers or that arm wrestling wasn’t just for fun. I simply had no idea. Needless to say, gym class was not my best friend. To me, it seemed like everybody else could dodge tiny rubber balls flying at their face with ease and make the basketball net swoosh every time they made a shot. With everybody else being so good at everything, I just wanted to be good at something. So I started running.
- I needed a good excuse to buy new shoes.
I’m 18 now, so I don’t run around the neighborhood stalking my friends, and I still can’t make the basketball net swoosh, but I found something I love. And that’s why today, 5 years later, I jumped on the opportunity to train for the Pacific Northwest Marathon with my best friend, Lizzy. I’m excited to train more seriously and share it all with you!
