Some people are born runners. They are athletic and strong, and speed and power just come naturally to them; they enjoy finding that silent space when they're out on the track, and genuinely look forward to their daily runs.
Other people are not runners. They hate running and only use it as a form of self-torture when all other work-out options are no longer optional. These people have usually had at least one bad experience with running (often times when it was used as a punishment in some other sport's practice), and avoid it whenever possible.
Then, there are people who fall between the two categories, which is where I'd say my mom and I fall.
While running doesn't necessarily come naturally in the way that it's easy or in the way that we're fast or exceptional at it, it is in our blood. My Grandpa Beecroft was a runner and passed his passion for that activity on to his daughter, who passed it on to me and several of my siblings.
Today, I'm going to brag a bit on his daughter, aka my mom.
While my mom has always had a drive to run and remain active, because of health issues stemming from giving birth to nine children, as well as her weight (something she's battled through her entire life), up until recently, she hadn't been able to run for the last 25 years.
Thanks to modern medicine and a new determination on her part, however, she's recently lost over 70 pounds, and signed up for the Phoenix Marathon!
Other people are not runners. They hate running and only use it as a form of self-torture when all other work-out options are no longer optional. These people have usually had at least one bad experience with running (often times when it was used as a punishment in some other sport's practice), and avoid it whenever possible.
Then, there are people who fall between the two categories, which is where I'd say my mom and I fall.
While running doesn't necessarily come naturally in the way that it's easy or in the way that we're fast or exceptional at it, it is in our blood. My Grandpa Beecroft was a runner and passed his passion for that activity on to his daughter, who passed it on to me and several of my siblings.
Today, I'm going to brag a bit on his daughter, aka my mom.
While my mom has always had a drive to run and remain active, because of health issues stemming from giving birth to nine children, as well as her weight (something she's battled through her entire life), up until recently, she hadn't been able to run for the last 25 years.
Thanks to modern medicine and a new determination on her part, however, she's recently lost over 70 pounds, and signed up for the Phoenix Marathon!
Since I'd already had some experience running and had a desperate need to have a workout routine that I could stick to that could help me work through some dark days after Calvin was born, I started running with my mom as her coach. We started slow--our first mile probably took around 20 minutes, and we both bawled afterward. But--we didn't give up!!!
It's been a hard training process. Running an average of 4 times a week for almost an entire year can get exhausting, and when you start ramping up the mileage for the hardcore marathon training, your body starts to resent you a bit; between my knees and my mom's other health issues, this has been one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
But celebrating each milestone with one of your best friends definitely helps!
Our first 13-mile run, aka our first half-marathon!!!
Feeling good after a good run!
After my mom and I signed up for the marathon, we convinced my brothers Abe and Levi to run it with us! We've had fun training at the same time, but not necessarily together; these guys could literally run circles around us if they wanted to.
Steve, NaElle, McKay, and Dad have all signed up for the Half Marathon, and it's been fun to trade videos, jokes, and inspiring texts about our training.
These are some pictures from the most recent Turkey Trot, taken last Thanksgiving morning:
Levi medalled in his age group;
where Jack ran the entire 5 K, and Clark ran the first two miles before getting lost and coming in to the finish line a little early. Thanks to a little nepotism on the part of the people running the race, Clark still got a medal and felt successful.
I love that my kids are learning to love being active!
This last Thursday morning, my mom and I embarked on what, in my opinion, is the hardest run of the entire marathon training experience: the dreaded 20-miler. For those who aren't familiar with marathon training, marathon trainers don't usually run the entire 26.2 miles before the actual race. The farthest most training schedules will call for is 20 or 22 miles, after which you taper down your mileage and start allowing your body to recuperate before the actual race.
We left on a cloudy and slightly cool morning at around 9:00 AM, and because of my sore knees decided to spend as much of the run at the local high school track as possible; the soft and even surface is much easier on joints than running uneven roads and sidewalks is.
We felt good after the first mile, though, so we headed out to Main Street to run the first ten miles, after which my knees were protesting. We came back to the track for the next six miles, and then after we started feeling a little crazy, we ran up and down 2nd West (and a little bit of Main Street) for the next two miles, where we came back to the track and finished up Miles 19 and 20.
Hardest 8 laps of my life.
Although I have run this distance before, it's been several years and one more baby, and this time felt significantly harder. By the last few laps, I even started feeling woozy and dizzy, but a running gel helped with those symptoms enough that I was able to rally and finish.
I can't even begin to empathize with what my 50-something-year-old mother must have been going through as she pushed through the finish line.
But--finish we did!!
20 MILES!!!
I'm so proud of us.
Phoenix Marathon, here we come!!!!
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