It’s been a week—a week since I reminisced about running in a blog post, a week since I decided to start running again and made a mini-goal, a week since I issued an invitation to readers to join me in a virtual running club. It’s been a week that has run right by me.

So, what came of last week’s post? That’s what I’m here to tell you—welcome to The Run-Down! The Unexpected Run-Down, to be exact. Because my first week back to running was characterized by things I didn’t plan. Things that were, well, unexpected.

Me? An Inspiration?
This morning in between services at church I ran into three runner-friends. As I hugged her and said hello, one of them—who just happened to be the wife of the ultra-marathoner who helped me across the finish line of my own marathon, and whom I mentioned in last week’s blog—told me something completely unexpected: “I signed up for a marathon and you were my inspiration.”

Me? Really?

This is the wife of someone who finished a 100-mile race just a few months ago. The wife of someone I look up to as a running inspiration. And she just told me that I was her inspiration for signing up for a marathon in April, her first marathon ever. Why me?

Me, because I set the goal and keep going. Because I trained (off and on, due to an injury) for years before I was able to run a marathon, and I “ran” it even knowing I would have to mix walking in there. Me, because rather than worrying about a time pressure (although yes, I do worry about that but I accept that I’m just not that fast), I get out there and do it anyway.

Wow. So humbling. So encouraging. Thank you, M, for telling me that. I needed it, especially this week. Because I did not meet this week’s running goal.

Falling Short…
My short-term goal, set in last week’s blog, was to run three times on the treadmill.

I ran once. Ran/walked. Well, okay, I’ll use the “j” word—I walked/jogged once. The good news? It was faster than my average pace for the 2017 marathon. ;)

I could give you all of the excuses, but the fact is that I just didn’t meet my goal. So I’m going to reset that goal for next week, and try to get just a tad faster in at least two of those three runs. (Oh, and Garmin isn’t paying me to promote their running watches. I just love my Garmin.)

Virtual Club is Up & Running
I also have good news to report—the virtual running club is up to two members! I have to use full disclosure, though—one of those members is me. A friend from my kids’ school, one who has been an inspiration to restart running this past year (I was wistful reading all of her running posts!), volunteered to “join” my virtual running club and be my running buddy within minutes of my posting. She even offered to run physically with me, even though she is way faster than me. Thanks J! Two members and counting—that I know of. If you want to join, I’d love to cheer you on from the virtual sidelines. Let’s do this together.

#running #runningbuddies #virtualrunningclub #therundown #inspiration #minigoals