Running is having a moment right now, and I am totally here for it! Growing up, I was a ballet dancer, and while I’ve always loved being active, I never saw myself as a runner. Yet somehow, along the way I caught the running bug. If you’re reading this, I want to encourage you to enter your, “runner girl era,” and make that journey exactly what you want it to be! I promise that if you commit, you will feel so much pride and confidence in yourself and what you can achieve.

My running journey began with a Thanksgiving turkey trot. My husband loved to run and I was just along for the ride. Naturally, I trained… some.. but I was really just doing it because he wanted to sign up. Once I finished it, I still wasn’t convinced it was for me just yet. The moment everything changed was when I decided to push myself and see if I could go for a 10k (6 mile) race. This number felt astronomically large in my mind, and I truly did not think I’d be able to push through and do it. Once I slowly worked my way up, I realized that the 10k wasn’t as intimidating as I had pictured it. Once I ran that race, I was hooked! If I could do something I convinced myself was too hard for me to complete; what else could I push myself to achieve?

This is where the “runner girl era,” begins, the moment you decided to believe in yourself and commit to your goals is the moment you are a true runner! Whether it’s running one mile, a 5k, or a half marathon, once you decide to show up for yourself and stay consistent, that’s what sets you apart and make you a runner. We all have different goals to achieve, and truly, the distance isn’t what creates a runner; it’s the mindset! Once you decide to lock in and go for your goals, your life will transform in ways you did not know were possible. Running pushes us past discomfort and guides us to a better version of ourselves.

Jump into your “runner girl era,” by shifting your mindset to doing the most you can with the time you have. Maybe your training won’t look like the perfect plan you so desperately want to follow to a T, but what can you do with the time you have today? Someone who loves the sport and wants to chase their goals won’t make excuses; they’ll create spaces throughout their day to accomplish the goal they set out to do. Someone told me recently that, “practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes progress,” and that really stuck with me. Perfection shouldn’t ever be the goal; none of us could reach that high of a standard! However, we can always work towards progressing forward to reach our full potential.

To reach your full potential, I want you to focus on the enjoyment of the sport. Running should be fun because it is fun! Do you have a first memory of running from your childhood? I remember in elementary school, we would race as fast as we could to reach the swing set on the playground. The sun would shine down as the breeze tickled my face, and I’d run so fast and free it felt like I was flying! I never considered myself a runner growing up, yet I still have wonderful memories of the sheer freedom I felt when I ran. I hope you have a fond memory of it too, because running is so much more than pace and distance. Running is a gift that we get to use and share with the world! We learn so much about ourselves from running, like what we are capable of and so much more. This is why I’m so excited for you to begin this new era in your life!

Learning to work through discomfort is a huge lesson I’ve learned through this journey. Let me add, running through discomfort and pain are two very different things! If you’re in pain, then you should not continue on and push through. Taking care of your injury should be the number one priority! However, pushing through discomfort is where I find myself wanting to throw in the towel. My mind tells me I’m done way before my body does! As someone who struggles with anxiety, I can honestly say that running has helped strengthen my mental toughness to push forward through uncomfortable situations. In doing so, I have achieved far more than I thought possible! Not only have I achieved more through running, but also in other areas of my personal life. This lesson has taught me that I am more capable than I give myself credit for. For example: outside of running, I teach fifth grade and there are times when situations arise for me to have uncomfortable conversations with students. While not all of the conversations are negative, however, I find myself dreading the discomfort of the circumstances anyway. Running has helped me feel confident in pushing through this feeling, and I’ve been able to walk that out in my daily life at work, as well as in relationships of my own. Getting outside of our comfort zone is the best way to grow, and to see what we’re really made of!

So, if you’re wanting to begin this insanely rewarding journey of running, I encourage you to joyfully begin. Start every run slower than you think you need to, don’t worry about time or pace, put on a great playlist or podcast (or Nike Run Club for coaching), stretch, fuel, and believe in yourself! I entered my running girl journey and am now about to run my second half marathon, while pushing forward to the marathon goal in mind. However, regardless of the distance, if you run, you are a runner! I hope to encourage you to chase after your big dreams and believe in yourself. As you enter the runner girl era, I hope you fearlessly chase your goals and embrace the beautiful journey of running!