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The only folks I pass on the running trail are the ones walking……and I am running.
When I first started running three years ago (eek- it’s been three years already!!!!), I was slower than slow and I was so caught up in the comparison game, as in, comparing myself to all of my new runner friends and their own individual paces. Needless to say, I always felt *behind the eight ball*. While I was proud of what I was doing, I wasn’t celebrating it. I was too busy comparing, comparing, and comparing some more and coming up short every single time. Why do we do that?
Fast forward to today (way before today, actually).
I am done with comparing myself to others. My pace is faster than when I started but it’s still not in the 9 or 10 minute range and it may never be. I see others whine and complain about their *quicker than me* paces and I think- why can’t they just revel in what their bodies CAN do? I would love to have that pace or that pace or win a race but it’s not currently in the cards.
That is OK.
You know why? Because I am a runner.
I used to think there was a certain criteria that I had to possess in order to call myself a runner. If someone dared call me a runner back in the beginning, I had all kinds of excuses of why I wasn’t a runner.
*I’m not fast enough *I’m not skinny enough *My foot strikes are heavy *My running skirts rides up my butt *I sweat too much *I gasp for breathe sometimes *My heart rate is too high *I have to work too hard to go so slow
*I carry every runner gadget known to man