The chain link fence that separated Jennifer and I from our ride home was a good 10 feet tall. As we stood there looking at it, we had a choice to make. We could either walk back across the track and through the parking lot to our car OR we could channel our inner 10 year old selves and climb it, saving a much needed 5 minutes or so. Time was precious, so I shoved the toe of my shoe through that first opening in the fence and began to climb. I thought that after making it to the top, the hard part would be over, but I was sorely mistaken. I looked over at Jen who had already made it safely to the other side. She was fumbling around looking for her phone so she could open up the photo app to document my awkward fence climb. I'm all about documenting life's happenings but something tells me that if Jen would have gotten that picture, it would have looked something like this:
That was motivation enough for me to swing my leg over that fence and gracefully
There's something to say about being part of a group. There is a lot of silent encouragement that happens there. The thought of joining the I Kan Run team didn't even cross my mind until posts were flying around Facebook about it. I had never had a desire to run… like ever! I thought long and hard before asking one simple question on a thread because I knew, once even an inclination of interest was out there for everyone to see, I was going to be bombarded with
I succumbed.
In the beginning, it was more like the I Kan "TRY" to Run program for me. Even though I had been killing it with Kaia workouts, I did not have the endurance for running. I was uncomfortable, I couldn't breath, and I was pretty much the last person to finish anything on the team. IT.WAS.HARD! I can not say enough about Kaia women though. Every single woman whether I know her name or not, is encouraging and supportive and most of all, Non-judgemental. That one special trait these women have, is one of the biggest reasons I am succeeding.
As the weeks went by, I learned quite a bit about running and sure enough, applying these things while I ran, made running easier and easier, except that it was still hard, but that was okay. I told myself after joining this team that I was going to do everything that the coaches asked of me to see if running could be a part of my life, and I did. I attended every single class and did every single homework assigned (some late, but it got done), I even went the extra mile (no pun intended), by adding more running to my daily routine. There were times when my negative mind would win, but that just encouraged me to do it again and do it better. This mentality is not of the girl who dwelled inside of me a year ago. That girl would have let her mind win and then would go and eat a cupcake to shut it up. That girl is dead. I have emerged from the ashes and am ready to shine.
The improvements I made in just seven short weeks are unbelievable. I shaved over a minute off of my timed mile and 5:21 off of my timed 5K. I have also developed a very very slight like/love for running (Just don't ask me while I'm in the middle of it, HA!) The funny thing about this entire running experience is that even though this session is over, I am not quitting because when I sign up for the next I Kan Run (Did I just type that?), I am determined to at least be in the middle of the pack instead of at the end.
I need to give a special shout out to my personal running coach who has been by my side with everything that I needed from her to succeed. You may remember her:
Heidi, Thank you!
And to all these women who have made it easier to roll out of bed and run before the sun comes up, I thank you too. I couldn't have asked for a better bunch of ladies to run next to in the wee hours of the morning.
Until next time!
