Running with the boys

As I've mentioned several times I'm not the fastest runner. I run for me not because I'm ever going to win any awards. But last weekend, at the 1st Annual Kayla Stanford Memorial Run, I found myself running for girl bragging rights. 

A number of my co-workers were running the race, and I was insisting that I was going to beat the boys. Go big or go home, right?  The race was held on a gorgeous spring morning in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  A sizable group gathered to complete the run/walk.


Runners and walkers at the start
I started the race with two of my male co-workers refusing to let them get ahead of me. The run began on the grass soccer field at Ypsilanti High School, and to my surprise the entire course was on grass or trails through the woods. The woods were also quite hilly - surprise!


I've only done one trail run, and it didn't go well. Running on wooded trails, even for a 5K, is so much harder than running on a road or sidewalk. About half a mile in I was already breathing hard and trying to ward away pains in my sides. Fortunately the boys seemed surprised by the course too so I was able to keep up with them.


The last half mile or so one of my co-workers pulled ahead, but I was able to finish with the other one. It wasn't my 5K PR, but it was the hardest 5K I've ever done - and the most rewarding.


I am smiling, but it's fake
I am so proud to have run for such a wonderful cause. Kayla Stanford suffered from sudden cardiac arrest, but hopefully through the work of the Kayla Foundation many of those tragedies can be prevented in the future. To learn more about sudden cardiac death, visit the Kayla Foundation or American Heart Association websites.


I (mostly) kept up with the boys, and I'm already looking forward to the 2nd Annual Kayla Stanford Memorial 5K. But next year I'm training on trails, and the boys are going down.


With co-workers after the race



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some Reasons Why Diet Culture is Garbage: I Poop a Lot and I'm Always Hungry

Image
It was the spring of 1996, and my mom and I were at the mall shopping for my senior prom dress. I had decided I was only going to eat 500 calories a day over the weekend. It was track season, so I couldn't starve myself on practice and meet days, but in my mind it seemed perfectly logical to basically starve my healthy, 17-year-old body on less physical days. I was in the fitting room trying on dresses, and I heard the sales person say to my mom, "Your daughter is so tiny!" I was light headed and nauseous from not eating, but that overheard compliment made me feel like it was all worth it.  Senior Prom 1996 I've struggled with my body image since I was a pre-teen, and in the 30+ years that have passed it's still something with which I struggle daily. I spent years punishing my body so I wouldn't gain weight: eating very few calories and working out for hours, purging, taking laxatives, only drinking alcohol until I threw up so I wouldn't gain weight. It...
Read more

Here's a Shortcut: Do the Work.

Image
I have a confession to make: I don't think I'm my best self right now. I've been thinking a lot about being my best self overall (including fitness which is a huge thing for me), and I've come to a simple, unalienable truth: there is no shortcut. To be the best version of yourself (whatever that means) you have to do the work. I'm not the same version of myself at 46 as I was at 26. (Man could I give that girl some good advice though.) I spend a lot of time reflecting on who I am and who I want to be. While doing the work all the time seems daunting on its surface, it's not. It doesn't mean life has to be a grind 24/7, but it does mean that there is effort in whatever is important to you (which of course is unique to each of us). Where am I willing to do the work to be the best version of me? Fitness. I love exercise. My husband says I'm "obsessed", and I retort that there are way worse obsessions. While I'm logging way fewer miles than I ...
Read more

Why Do I Talk About my "Stuff"?

Image
A few months ago a friend told me someone we knew was venting that I share too much about myself in my blog and on social media. She said (I'm paraphrasing) something like "We all go through stuff. There's no need to share it." At first I was irritated until I realized this person has zero impact on my life. And it's true: we are all going through things. But since then I've been thinking a lot about why I am so candid about things in my life (in particular my struggle with Crohn's Disease).  I was 19 when I got sick. It was so embarrassing. No college girl wants to tell people they're dealing with bloody diarrhea and nausea and horrible cramps. That's the thing about a chronic illness: it's easy to feel like you don't have anyone to lean on. I had my colon removed 5 weeks before I started law school (the delightful adventure chronicled in this blog ). I began law school having lost 30 pounds in less than a month, with steroids puffing up m...
Read more