August 23, 2010

Gloucester 7 Miler


Yesterday, my friend, stepmom and I all ran in the Gloucester 7 Miler race. It was the most beautiful course I've run on yet; right along the beach and throughout the absolutely adorable and picturesque town. I've been worked up (obviously) about the race for the past week or two because I've been having trouble lately getting past 2-3 miles. After a lot of advice, I believe I might be lactose intolerant. So, while this is slightly depressing considering my love affair with cheese, it was also really positive; I avoided all dairy 24 hours before the race and was able to do the 7 miles sans problems. Well, minus the normal wear and tear :)

The three of us did really well in the race! My stepmom said she even "took it slow" so she could look at the course. Granted, for her, taking it slow was running 6:50's and coming in second in her age group. Did I mention that the world record holder for the female 10k ran this race? And won, naturally. They flew in some of the fastest Kenyans to participate in this inaugural event. It was so exciting, being able to run the same course as these world class athletes. My dad made an excellent point: "Running is the only sport where the professional athletes compete with everyone else." You don't see Red Sox fans allowed on the field to play along with the pros. It's true. Running is a sport for everyone, because everyone and anyone can do it. It was extremely inspirational to see these world record holders crossing the same finish line as you, albeit even if they did it in half the time ;)
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Welcome to Head Over Heels!

Like many 20-something women, I woke up one morning exasperated. It seemed like every day I would find a new passion, a new dream, and get excited about yet another project, just to find that they would all crash and burn. I wanted something that I could control and that would be all mine.

Because our 20s are a time of exploration and discovery, it's very hard to find that path that directs us exactly to our dreams, especially because our dreams have the habit of evolving overnight. I had worn myself into a tizzy of exhaustion, disappointment, and an overwhelming sense of having no control over my own life. And that's when I went for that first run.

Two minutes later, I arrived back at my apartment steps, panting. As long and as torturous as those two minutes felt, they also gave me a sense of liberation, a feeling that had been severely lacking in my life. The next day, pathetically still sore, I again put on my sneakers. Three minutes, yes! This routine was repeated daily throughout the summer and now, I'm a half-marathoner! My ultimate goal, a marathon, still looms in the distant future, but the even bigger goal is one I can actively work on every day: learning to gain control over my own life and learning to fall in love with myself one step at a time.