I'm a Runner

I don’t outfit myself with brand new Lulu Lemon every season. I don’t speak runner speak - split pace and PRs. I think I’ve run one 5k. Despite that, I am a runner. It might be completely obvious to someone else, but I’ve never self identified as a runner in the 15 years I have been one.

You see running is not my religion and there are many runners who make it just that. But I had an epiphany yesterday, on a 7 mile run, training for a 15 mile race, running isn’t my religion, but it is my spiritual practice. I am a more balanced person when I can get out there. I get to have the escape and meditation that being a working mom, entrepreneur and mom two little kids doesn’t find throughout the day.

I never ran track or cross country. I actually remember cheating on the mile in middle school gym class. I shouted “lap 4” as I came around the finish, when I had definitely only made it around the track three times. I started running a little in college to burn off beer and pizza calories. But I really really found running in New York City. I couldn’t afford a gym and running was a way for me to see the city. When I first moved to NYC I was living at the southern tip of Manhattan, right near the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. I would run the bridge as the sun came up. I felt like I was a 22 year old on top of the world, but despite waking up daily to run, I was definitely not a runner.

I ran as therapy. The first few years of living in New York my brother, back in Michigan, was deep in the throws of addiction. His best friend, a kid I watched him grow up with, died of an overdose. I ran to deal with my feelings. I’d cry on the East Side running path.

I met actual runners. A coworker, turned bestie was a distance runner at Notre Dame. She ran marathons. I never met a person that could run that far! That’s 26.2 miles, people! I don’t know how or why I decided I wanted to do that, but I did it! In 2008, 25 year old Lauren put in the work, the hard, long work to train for a marathon. I trained almost entirely solo too! In May 2008 I ran the Poconos Mountain marathon. But I still didn’t feel like a runner.

I’ve never done a speed workout, or been part of a running group. I’m a person who waves at every other runner out there and hovers around a 9 minute mile. I’m not a serious, competitive runner, but I get up before the sun day after day after day to get my miles in and I’m a runner.