How Bad Do You Want It?

For those of you I haven\’t told yet: I\’ve officially jumped on the crazy wagon. I\’ve decided that I\’m going to run my first FULL marathon in May of 2021. After spending the last year doing a lot more running and much less swimming, it pains me to admit that my dad may be right: I\’ve finally turned into a runner!

I\’ve now done four half marathons, and even though two years ago that seemed like a nearly impossible feat, it doesn\’t scare me anymore. I won\’t be breaking any records anytime soon, but I\’m starting to really enjoy these longer runs and – gasp! – even look forward to them! After my last half marathon, a couple of the run club members asked me if I was ready to run a full marathon now, and I was pretty certain I wasn\’t. The idea of one definitely didn\’t seem AS crazy as it used to, but I still wasn\’t sure if I was ready to run one.

However, at the end of summer, when we had three WARC members compete in their first ever marathon, I couldn\’t help but feel inspired by them. The amount of work and miles they put in to train sounded crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it not only sounded like something I wanted to do, it sounded like something I COULD do. Every member of WARC rallied behind these marathoners, and it was so much fun to share that special memory with them. As one of the few members of WARC who hasn\’t run a marathon yet, I want to join them in their celebrations! I want to see what I can do.

I won\’t officially start hard core training until the end of January, but in the mean time, I do want to get out and run a little more than I currently am. Lately, I\’ve been running two days a week, and I\’d really like to push that up to at least three days, if not four. Seemed like an easy enough goal to set for myself, but I\’ve learned over the last two weeks how much discipline that is going to take! Running with WARC absolutely makes it easier to get out and run, because I\’m not only running with a group, but they help me stay accountable. Running on my own is not nearly as fun, and I sometimes find myself backing out of it and doing the elliptical or weight lifting instead. Which obviously isn\’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do need to get out and get those miles in!

A couple of ladies from WARC meet Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:15 am to run, and I decided I would try to join them. I\’d be getting my miles in, and I\’d be running with a group. Win win. But I am the farthest thing from a morning person. I value my sleep above most things, and I quickly realized how hard it was to get up and want to run that early in the morning.

Pretty soon, three early morning runs came and went and I had yet to get myself out of bed and go. I was joking with Dan one day about it, telling him I was just not meant to be a morning person. Thinking he\’d just laugh it off with me, he actually gave me the kick in the butt I needed:

Dan: \”Didn\’t you say you wanted to start training for a marathon?\”

Me: \”Yeaaah.\”

Dan: \”And didn\’t you say you wanted to run more often?\”

Me: \”Might of said that…\”

Dan: \”And who said it was more fun to run with a group than by yourself?\”

Me: \”I did…\”

Dan: \”So, how bad do you want it? It\’s going to be hard, but that\’s what makes it worth doing.\”

And I\’m pretty sure that\’s exactly what I needed to hear, because I got up at 4:30 am on Thursday morning and went running with those ladies. It was hard to get up that early yes, but I want to achieve this goal and I\’m going to work at it for the next several months until I have my first full marathon under my belt! I am surrounded by a great support system between Dan, my family, and everyone in WARC. I know they\’ll be by my side throughout this journey, and encourage me to keep going when I feel like giving up.

It\’s so important to surround yourself with people who are there to lift you up and want to see you accomplish your goals, and I\’ve got the best support group there is! 🙂 Can\’t wait to get this journey rolling and see what I\’m capable of.

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger