A Cupcake Goes Running

THE LIONESS

Be they giants or be they runts,
Males go out and do their stunts.
They think they're kings.
They do their things,
But it's the lioness that hunts.

John Jerome Runner's Logbook, 2003:
"It's the lioness that hunts."
Slogan of a British women's running club


Last year when we first moved to the wilds of North Carolina, I hauled myself up to the base and joined a lovely group of running mommies called the Stroller Warriors. These young women were pushing strollers, chasing bikes and scooters and armed with snacks, juice boxes and toys; the embodiement of my favorite running slogan in a world where it is the wife who remains behind and holds the home together.

There were only two problems with this situation: 1)it took me an hour to meet up with them; 2)I had no stroller, or kids to put in one...; and 3)I'm slow, like at the back of the pack. (Okay, that was three problems.)

SO...despite the fact that these ladies were lovely, I quit going north to meet them. Hence no post on this running business last year.

SKIP AHEAD TO MARCH 2011~


Over the next months I started a new and interesting relationship with my treadmill instead...and with a chiropractor....and with a massage therapist...and that brings us up to the present. Body all tuned up and a run/walk plan in place to get back to a 5k.

Then in August of this year, after months and months of building a monogamous relationship with my treadmill, the last piece fell into place to get my running back to where I want it to be. The lovely and animated Jamie Bentfield signed on as my running buddy. And now, three times a week, we meet and work on increasing our distance. And suddenly, running is fun again!(or as fun as it can be.)

Jamie has no running agenda, other than just wanting to finish a 5k without any walking breaks...and she really doesn't care about the time-frame, she just wants to enjoy the process in a way that doesn't make it feel like an obligation. This whole mind-set was foreign to me (Hello! a blog about goal-setting!).

But as I considered this idea a bit I had an epiphany:

Goals are important...but sometimes it is just as important (if not more important) to simply relax and enjoy the journey.

And then I don't have to give myself such hell when I skip a day---or when I take a day to rest my uncooperative legs & feet. Because I know I'll be back on the road tomorrow. And because even though I DO want to complete a 10k, and a running club would be fun to join...really it is about running becoming and remaining a part of my life on a regular basis.

Sometimes the REAL goal is just perserverance.