As this semester comes to an end, I wanted to reflect on my running progress. The first time I made an actual attempt toward setting goals for and consistently running was my first year in college. Thanks to my high school offering online gym classes, I had never had the opportunity to run a complete mile in my life. I wasn’t looking for a fast pace or good speed, but all I knew was that college was a time for me to reinvent myself and start running, something that would also help me get in shape and be good for my cardiovascular health.
To keep myself accountable, I ended up blogging my journey to running my first 5k as part of my rhetoric and civic life class assignment. It was an awesome experience and taught me that slow running is still running! I finished my first year with the goal that I was going to beat my 5k time next year.
So where am I today now that I’m halfway through my third year? Well, there have been some ups and downs since that first 5k. There’s been periods of no improvement, I broke my toe, and also times where I just didn’t run for half the semester. However, since I had a lighter semester for Fall 2023, I made it a priority to dedicate two days of the week to running. Additionally, I found a running friend who kept me accountable and dragged me out of bed the nights I just wanted to be lazy and watch Netflix.
Now, I’m running consistent 3 mile distances twice a week and am making it a goal to run a half marathon by next year. I’m proud of myself because just a few years ago I could barely complete a mile without feeling like I was going to throw up and at the time I couldn’t ever imagine running longer distances. My overall takeaway is that running is a slow journey of improvement, it’s okay to be a slow runner, and that having an awesome running partner can make it a lot more enjoyable. Excited to have an update blog next year!
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