As far as I can remember, during my adult life, I’ve been a runner. The first run I tracked was on January 6, 2012. I went for a 3.72 mile run and finished in 30 mins and 34 seconds. I’ve run pretty consistently since then.

Earlier on, I ran because it made me feel good. I’m not going to lie, it hurt, but I enjoyed getting outdoors, clearing my mind, and listening to music.

Ever since, my why has evolved. I put more intentionality into why I’m running. Sometimes, I want to push myself and get into uncomfortable circumstances, sometimes I need to clear my mind, sometimes I want to explore a new area, and sometimes I just want to listen to new raps.

Running got me through Covid, mentally. Doing everything at home was not the recipe for success, so running helped me cope with those circumstances.

Fast forward to July 2023, I started seeing a nutritionist so I could finally get my diet in order. I started seeing success with that and I began to feel really good.

I began to feel my why evolve again, to prove to myself that at 40 years old, I can really push myself and improve some aspect of my life. I signed up for the 2024 North Carolina RoadRunners Club (NCRC) Half Marathon at Umstead. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. I finished in 1 hr 53 mins.

Feeling really good about that, I took the summer of 2024 to decide if I was going to run a marathon. At the beginning of August, I signed up for the 2024 Richmond Marathon on November 16th. This was a different beast entirely. I needed to run more and farther. I needed to introduce new types of running workouts like tempo runs, interval runs, fartleks, and long runs. In the end, I spent 67 hours and 22 minutes, running 496 miles. I set a goal to run in 3hr and 40min. I finished in 3 hrs 39 mins 04 secs.

I remember at mile 22 or 23 of my race, I had thoroughly hit “the wall”. My legs tightened up, I was cramping, and I was thirsty as hell. I managed to continue to run, but it was painful. I remember seeing a sign being held by a spectator that said “Remember your why”.

In that moment, that inspired some thinking. First, no one made me sign up for the Richmond Marathon. I wanted to be there. I wanted to put myself in that extremely uncomfortable position and work my way through it.

I then flashbacked to mile 19 when I saw my family. They were my why. They tolerated my disappearing for 67 hours to train for my marathon. I was very grateful for them being accommodating and cheering me on.

I thought some more and then I whispered to myself, “I love this shit dawg”. That’s my why, I love running. I loved knowing that at mile 22, despite setbacks, that I knew I was going to finish. That was powerful to me. It’s a strong reminder that I could set my mind to anything, focus, and finish.

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