My Running Adventures

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all of the in between!  The Hamilton's had an amazing Christmas and New Year and we hope/wish you did too! 

Over on the right hand side of my blog under the "about me" section, you will see that it says "lazy runner".  Well I am proud to say that is not true anymore!  You see, I had always been a runner...I guess...because I grew up in a family of runners.  I had always been apart of races, events, meets, etc.  Nothing was really serious hence the word "lazy".  Well, all that has changed and I have to say that I am a different runner now than what I was back then. 

I am training for a marathon!  Woo hoo!  I had always wanted to do one and when I was younger, I thought I would have done one by now, but it's never too late, right?  Well, after Leah was born, I had this crazy idea that I wanted to run a marathon by the time she turns 1.  She was born in February 2010 and in May of 2010 I ran my first race back sans being pregnant.  It was only a 5k and my goal was to just break 30 min.  Ha...can I just say it was one of my most embarrassing races ever.  Not only did I finish in 31 minutes, but I puked twice.  Did I mention it was only a 5k...3 miles?  Now I did just have a baby 3 months before, but still. 

Anyways, from that point forward I would go out and run every now and then, but nothing too serious.  Not until September was when I decided once and for all I was going to enter the 2011 Myrtle Beach Marathon that would be happening in February.  I had some knowledge on how to train for races, but nothing like a marathon, so who did I call?  None other than the main man himself...my Dad!

My dad was a running machine back in the day.  He's done well over 50 marathons including the Marine Corps Marathon, Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado, and even the Boston Marathon.  Back in high school, the track coaches were naturally more occupied with the sprinters than with the endurance runners, so my dad took me under his wing and ultimately got me to regionals.  He's great.

I was kind of nervous at first because he was pretty hard core back in the day and wouldn't let me slide with any of the complaints of "I've got a cramp, my side's hurting, I can't go on"...he would just keep running and tell me to get up there with him.  I thought my world was going to end, but he knew what he was doing.

So, anyway, back to the marathon.  I called him and told him I had registered and that there was no turning back.  He agreed to help me train.  I've got to tell you that once you get over that hump of discipline, it's all downhill from there.  I am the least disciplined person in my training, but if you've got a goal and you truly care about it, you will get over the hump and actually enjoy the process!  I was telling Adam about how I dreaded so much to go out and do 3 miles, but now I actually look forward to running 7, 8, and 9 miles on short days.

When I was younger, my dad used to always tell me, "Elizabeth, you have so much potential in this sport".  Every time we would run together and I started to complain, he would bring up that "p" word.  I never believed him.  He said something to me a couple of months ago on one of our runs in my old neighborhood.  We were talking about old times and the word potential came up and he told me again that I had so much potential back then but I had even more today.  He said that I never reached my potential because I didn't want it.  

Holy moly there you have it.  My dad is great, that day he taught me something.  Your potential never leaves you.  The desire to reach your potential can disappear causing you to regress and settle back in a mediocre life.  

I'm sorry this blog post has been a bit lengthy (I guess I'm making up for lost time) but I have thoroughly  enjoyed writing it.  Now, instead of calling myself a "lazy runner" I can confidently say that I'm a proud runner!  Thank you Dad for bringing out the best in me!

Myrtle Beach Marathon Countdown...38 days.