How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Running
20 years ago, I joined the track team. I was slow. I was miserable. I hated it. I decided I would never be a runner. And I quit.
I finally decided in my 30s that I needed to do something for exercise. I’m good at walking. I know how to do it. I knew I couldn’t fail at walking. I started walking before work and before I knew it I was walking 5-6 miles every morning. And I loved it.
My first race was a cold, snowy 5K in the middle of the night. I was terrified. But I knew I could go that far, and I did.
A month later, my first half marathon had a walking division and a 5 hour limit. I knew I could do it. But I was terrified. I was actually shocked to come in second in my age group.
The next month I walked a marathon. Then I decided to try my feet at running again. Four months later I ran my first half. Eleven months after my first 5K, I ran my first marathon.
Every race I do, I look around and think that everyone around me looks like an athlete. They look fast. I’m not. I’m slow. I’ll walk at least half of this. I could be last. I’ll probably be last.
And then I remember that I’m not really competing with them. I’m competing with that voice in the back of my head that thinks I can’t possibly run that far, that I’m not good enough to be there, that I’m not a runner. That’s who I need to beat.
I want to hug my past self and tell her she can do it if she really wants to. I didn’t always believe in myself but it took me a long time to learn that belief in myself matters more than anyone else’s belief in me, and that belief is what keeps you going when the going gets tough.
I’m very grateful to this community that constantly reminds me that it doesn’t matter how fast you go as long as you keep going!
Keep going. Be a runner.
Bio: Heather Wood is a family doctor in northern Wisconsin. In addition to running, she enjoys crochet, hiking, archery, camping, Disney, the Green Bay Packers, and boating with her husband and two children.
