Running My Own Race

"Run your own race", that is what I took away from a session I attended a few years ago at Women's Conference. I don't remember exactly what the speaker was talking about but the gist of it was that we shouldn't worry too much about what other people are able to accomplish, rather we should focus on our own lives, our own races, so that in the end, like Paul, we can say "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7) Immediately this thought of running my own race took on a double meaning for me, the first, like the speaker intended was for me to not compare myself to those around me. My house may be messy, and our cars are not brand new, BUT I am doing my very best and I don't need to worry about how I and my family may be different from others. The second meaning was more literal, because at the time, I was training for my first big race.

It's been a few years and, running wise, I've had my ups and my downs. But some things have stayed the same, I still love to run and I know I'm not very good at it, so I revel in the fact that I can run my own race. While I was pregnant I ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon and I'm happy that I did. I very much ran my own race that day- I was slower than most people- but I was also 16 weeks pregnant SO just by finishing I pretty much blew the rest of the field away, right? Right! I think it was about a week after that race that I decided I wanted to run it again- this time not pregnant and hopefully a little faster and with less potty breaks. And so I signed up for the 2014 Utah Valley Half.

That race is in June. This year I'm also branching out into the world of Relay Races. The big dream is to get a team together to run the Ragnar Wasatch Back race. When a team didn't come together easily this year, four of my friends and I decided to run the Ogden Marathon Relay in May. I'm really excited about these two races, (and to make things even more fun, we have all committed to prepare to run the 2015 Wasatch Back- and we already have about 8 out of the 12 people we need for our team! ) and I want to make sure that I am in optimal Kate Shape! So a couple of weeks ago I sat down and put together my training schedule.

I've been running again for about 3 weeks now and I'm taking it slow- because I know, for me, slow and steady training keeps me injury free. I've modified training schedules that I found online- the couch to 5k and a 10k and half marathon schedule that I found on halhigdon.com. I melded the three schedules together, eliminating a week here or there where the different distances overlapped (for example, the half marathon schedule has you start with 3 or 4 mile training runs, but by the time you finish the 10k training schedule you are already consistently running 5 and 6 miles.) and then I counted days and weeks. If all goes well and I don't get sidetracked by illness or injury I should be ready to run my half marathon a few weeks early. It all came together so well, it felt like it was meant to be.

I look forward to a great year of running my own race.