I started running in 8th grade, essentially out of a bargain with my parents: I could finally stop piano lessons if I picked up some other activity. It’s lucky I read Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run; I was actually excited to pick up running (vs. the total apathy I presented toward musical pursuits). My first run, I ran 0.6 miles around the block, came home, and had what was essentially a Frappuccino (thanks, Mom). My dad saw the calorie surplus and made me do another lap (great, I’m only 300 calories in the black).
I pretty quickly realized that I actually wasn’t bad at this running thing. That same school year, I ran a mile [1] in 6:28; this is actually not fast at all in the context of 3A track meets in middle school but it was fast enough that I was impressed with myself; that feeling of accomplishment is what gave me the motivation to keep going. Seeing the times go down was cool, but it’s only because of running that I could climb Kilimanjaro or doing a half-Ironman without much training.
After high school and without the structure of a cross-country program, I spent less and less time running. I still considered myself a runner, and I had friends who ran, but I wasn’t running as often, and I wasn’t getting faster. Between studying and social activities, running fell down my list of priorities. Working at BCG only made my time more scarce; when I did run I wasn’t doing double-digit-mile runs “for fun”. At some point, I shed the dogma in my head around lifting weights and began splitting my workout time more evenly between cardio and strength training.
👟
My main concern with moving to the Bay Area was always meeting people. I was socially established in Houston; how would I make friends in a new city on the opposite side of the country? Friends in the area recommended run clubs; after a few hours of scoping out run clubs online I found one I wanted to join. I left my home Saturday morning at ~6:30am, drove for an hour, and got to the Marina District in SF. I found probably ~100 folks there, all welcoming. Someone who moved from Houston around the same time I did. A co-founder of an electric vehicle startup. An Australian with whom I shared 75% of my title with (Senior, Technical, Manager). Everyone got coffee afterwards; post-coffee pickleball was regularly scheduled programming.
I think I’m a runner again.
[1] Technically, 1600 meters and not a mile, but what’s 30 feet at that point?