Fauja Singh retired from marathon running at the age 101. He started running at age 89.
He ran at a little over a 15 minute per mile pace, which is admittedly slow, but this man made worldwide headlines by being the oldest person to complete a marathon.
The running world is completely different than I expected because people like him.
I started running to lose weight. I was walking, then jogging on the treadmill. Eventually it led to other lifestyle changes like diet change and working out. I lost over 30 pounds, which was the main goal. But after a few months it wasn't about that anymore at all.
Running changed my life in a lot more ways than just seeing a smaller number on the scale.
I stopped sighing at my reflection and instead was checking out my new leg muscles.
Running outside made me more confident. My hair isn't perfect while I run and I don't have beautifully long and graceful strides like other runners do, but learning not to care if people judge my form or not made it so I don't really care if people judge me all day long. There are things to be concerned about, including how I present myself, but if I am being kind and doing what God would have of me, I don't really need to concern myself with what people think. It's something we're told all the time, but running really made the insecurity of being judged diminish.
Running made me more outgoing. The running world is full of different characters, but if I rind a runner, I find a companion no matter where I am. I called ahead and arranged to meet with an ultra-marathoner group in Reno a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I was intimidated, but after the question of pace and distance of run were answered, I didn't have the slightest apprehension about meeting these new people. I showed up at an unknown location, introduced myself as the "gal from Nebraska" and we took off. I learned a lot about these people in Reno and will most likely look them up again next time I'm in town.
Running made me more energetic. It sounds backwards, but the longer the run, the more energy I have that day.
Running makes me want to be better all around. Doing something to improve my life makes me want to do more and more improving. It's why I changed my eating habits, why I've been going minimalist, why I've been considering every purchase, why I've been trying to budget my time better and learn more about things I'm interested in.
Running made me more open. There is something about running with someone that makes you open up. Being miles in, sweaty, huffing and puffing and miserable. Maybe it's that talking takes your mind off of what you perceive as eminent death, or maybe it's just being that vulnerable position leads to being more vulnerable with your thoughts, too.
Either way, running gave me a life long close friend. The running partner friendship is different than any I have ever experienced. Danielle knows a lot about me. Most of our time spent was encouraging each other, even if it was just silently plugging along next to each other and the encouragement was just to keep going.
And running makes me happy. There has never been a run that I have regretted doing. During, sure, I question my own sanity sometimes. But days that start with a run almost always start with a smile.
