Monday, January 17, 2011

Me, You, The others

So yesterday I ran my longest run ever: 10 miles.  I was happy. I was proud.  I wanted to tell everybody and their brothers.  It was not fast but it was under 2 hours and that is all I wanted really in terms of time.  What I wanted most was to just do it.  You guys were so kind with your encouragements and support.  I appreciate this a lotIn a world where people can go to a public place and shoot innocents for no reason, where people cannot always be who they want to be because they fear others, where the word BULLY exists, where kids cannot walk to school with a friend without having their mom following behind in case some maniac comes and grab them, it is so nice to know that people who have never met me can be so kind and generous just because we have something in common. 

I am not a fast runner, in fact I would not be surprised if most of my 47 (thank you) followers could beat me at most races.  And you know what? I don't really care about that.  I am OK with what I can do if I did my best.  So far I have never come in last at any races! 
I like reading blogs about fast people, marathoners, triathletes, ultra marathoners, people who can do crazy things like run a marathon on the treadmill (no joke Janae did that today) I admire how a human body can achieve so much. Mine gave birth twice and  that is better then any BQ in my eyes!!!   All that to say that we are all different and we should be happy with the best WE can do.  Abbi wrote a great post on that today you should stop by her blog!

The main reason I am writing all this is because yesterday after my long run I posted on my Facebook that I did the 10 miles and a friend of mine who is trying to get in shape wrote this:

"Holy crap! I'll never catch up to you now, Caro!! I am so disappointed . . I might be able to get out tonight and do a whopping 3 miles . . .and barely bounce home . . I'm going to hang my head in defeat now . . . ."That made me so sad


I responded:

"W: It makes me sad to read your post.   Do the best that YOU can. Getting off the the couch for one mile or 20 it is all good. I know people who can run a marathon in the time it will take me to do my half and I don't think about that in a negative way. I think there are great but I am pretty sure I will think I am great when I cross the finish line next Sunday! No defeat here! Cheers to you and no more getting down on yourself like this. Listen to me, last year I had a hard time running 2 miles without walking. Baby steps.'



9 comments:

ShutUpandRun said...

10 miles, you are officially in the double digits. Congrats.You should be VERY proud of yourself.

Caroline said...

thank you Beth!

XLMIC said...

No one could have said it any better, Caroline. Just perfect:) And I think we could be running buddies…if I were a little faster, could run more than 7 miles and didn't smell so bad!

abbi said...

Wonderful post and definitely the point I was trying to make. I keep seeing people posting things, "I know this is nothing for most people..." and I do that a bit myself, but we all just need to do the best we can and know we are all trying to support one another. Great job on that run!

Jenn said...

Congrats on hitting the 10 mile milestone! That was a huge one for me. And love your reply to your friend. I couldn't agree more. It's definitely NOT about how far you go compared to other people, it's all about personal goals that you set for yourself.

KovasP said...

Outstanding accomplishment! Keep up the great attitude and effort.

The Hungry Runner Girl said...

CONGRATS on the ten miler!!! That is AMAZING!!! I totally agree with you....everyone is at their own levels and we all have different strengths so we can't compare ourselves to everyone else!!!

GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY!!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!

Christine said...

Congrats on running a double digit distance. This is HUGE! Great post! When I started running, my roommate was a marathon runner and she was always very supportive and never said or treated me like somebody who only runs 5k's. She was happy another runner was "born" and was excited with me. The runner community is amazing :)

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you! It's about doing your best and not comparing yourself with others. I'm glad you're out there getting it done. You are going to do GREAT on your Half!