Take it and run Thursday

I've been wanting to participate in this for a while now. Today's question is from Marlene at Mission to a(nother) Marathon:

When did you know you had become a runner? Was there a defining moment, or was it a gradual progression over time?

Sometimes I still wonder if I should call myself a runner. For the first 22 years of my life I disliked running and stayed away from it as much as possible. I was in Color Guard in high school and during the seldom occasion when our coach would make us run I hated every minute of it. Even in college when I was going to the gym a lot and trying to lose weight I would stay away far away from the treadmill. 

Then in January of 2008 I decided to train for a half marathon. I highly doubted my ability to do it but losing weight by "working out" wasn't working for me. I needed a bigger goal to take my mind off of losing weight and onto something else. I surprised myself during me first run and ran farther than I thought I would though it still felt horrible. As the weeks and month went on I went farther, got faster, and actually started to like running. 

In May of 2008 I completed my first race, the Buffalo Half Marathon. I had such a good time and that night I immediately went online to find out when other races were nearby. The following week I was registered for three more half marathons. It was during this time when I realized that running had become a part of my life and that it wasn't going away anytime soon. That is when I really started to think of myself as a runner. But the other part of this, at least for me, is when someone else called me a runner.

Last fall I was in a running specialty store outside Philly with my mom. She was getting new shoes and I was tagging along. Neither of us had ever been to this store before. My mom was getting fitted by the owner who was very friendly. We were talking for a while and at one point she looked at me and asked me if I had run in high school. I said no and that I run now though. She said, yea you definitely look like a runner. I was surprised because I don't think I look like a runner at all but I was flattered and excited that someone else thought that.

In other news I did an easy 4 miler this morning. I was definitely feeling all the manual labor from yesterday so I took it easy. I am feeling good night and depending on how late I stay up with our company I will try to do a 6 mile tempo run in the morning.

On Saturday I am headed out to Chestnut Ridge Park with some running friends for a tough 12 miler. The hills out there are BRUTAL. I'll definitely have an elevation map of that run!