In October I started working with a new client on a FitFluential Twitter chat. We were talking about the love of the run, and running for good, and how the Timex ONE relay tied those things together. This relay “spans the distance between two of the most iconic marathons in the world”— from Chicago to NYC— and happened to still need runners in some cities.
Including my hometown, Wilmington Delaware.
So even though I’d not been doing much in the way of run training, I felt compelled to apply. Each runner got to choose a charity to support; Timex would be making a charitable donation of $100 per mile. The worst they could do was say no, right?
I was quick to mention that I continue to run only to prove to myself that I can do hard things that I really don’t want to do, in the hopes that I will nudge someone else who identifies as NOT A RUNNER to get out there.
And I was selected to participate. I was excited and petrified.
As luck would have it, the weather changed that morning from weeks of beautifully perfect fall temps to just a miserable, cold rain. I was late arriving because there were accidents on the backroads.
But I got there. And I ran.
I had 4 miles to run, starting at the Delaware Running Company store in Greenville right by my BFF’s parents’ house and ending just a bit past my in-laws’ house in Centerville. (This is how Delaware works.)
That’s an uphill climb pretty much the entire way. So much for my usual strategy of running the straightaways and downs and walking the hills.
I started off wearing my Under Armour rain jacket, but got all sweaty and irritated by it almost right away (not the jacket’s fault, I just can’t stand the feeling of wet fabric). So I just sucked it up and weathered the weather. You can’t even tell it was raining in these photos. Trust me, it was.
The nice thing though, was that the weather distracted me from the actual running, and since I didn’t want my phone to get wet I was pretty much unaware of time passing. The miles flew by. Before I knew it I was in Centerville, and headed downhill about a quarter mile towards my finish line.
You can kind of see the watch I’m wearing in this pic (I’m a terrible blogger and didn’t think to get a picture of it myself). It was worn by all of the relay participants to track the miles run. The touchscreen Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ lets you leave your phone at home: in addition to the features of a running GPS watch, it connects to Bluetooth headphones, allows you to send and receive messages, is compatible with Bluetooth heart rate monitors, is water resistant, and can send an SOS message complete with your exact location. Pretty cool.
Once my four miles were done I got to climb into the Timex van and warm up while we tailed another runner who was doing six miles.
Yes, I felt a little silly for being so proud of my paltry 4 miles. I knew a ton of people who were training for the NYC Marathon and were logging long runs of 18, 20 miles.
Running is hard for me. Especially something like this: no obstacles to break up the monotony, no one keeping me company. Just me and my thoughts, the loudest one asking me why the hell do I keep signing up for this stuff.
I don’t really know the answer to that question. But I keep signing up, and I keep doing, and that feels more right than doing nothing at all.
And in this case, I helped raise $400 for charity, which always feels pretty darn good.
You know how they say “if you run, then you’re a runner?” I say it too, but I never really felt it applied to me until I did this. For one day, I felt like a runner. A slow, thoroughly soaked and chilled to the bone runner, but a runner nonetheless.
You can learn more about the Timex ONE relay here.
If you’re local, I highly encourage you to visit the Delaware Running Company. I’d never been there before, but the staff was amazingly nice and helpful. It looks like they do group runs 3x a week.
(And in case you’re wondering about what I’m wearing in these photos: repping The Riv in my CrossFit Riverfront tank and hat; aforementioned Under Armour light weather-resistant jacket (doesn’t look like they carry this one anymore but this is similar); Pro Compression socks; Mizuno Wave Sayonara shoes.)
