Welcome to Wednesday Word, a weekly linkup for everyone, not just health and fitness bloggers.
Each Wednesday you will have a single word prompt to write about. Let your imagination run free and share with your readers your interpretation of that word, or simply use it as inspiration for your post.
Today’s word is perseverance…… I’d love to have you link up, and if you do, please remember to follow my six simple rules.
Perseverance – steadfastness in doing something
despite difficulty or delay in achieving success…
“Let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.”
~Hebrews 12:1
Today is National Running Day, and what better day than today to talk about running and perseverance. I’ve coached many runners over the years. Some have persevered. Some haven’t. I’d like to focus on the ones who have…
My first opportunity to coach was with the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. I took approximately 125 self-described couch potatoes (I preferred to call them running newbies) from a life of very little exercise to completing the Marine Corps Marathon. In addition to completing a 26-week program to prepare them physically to run a marathon, they had to raise $1,600 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic – money be used for AIDS research.
On the morning of our first run, about 150 excited and nervous people gather around me for instructions on what to expect for the next 26 weeks. They came in all shapes and sizes, and shared a common denominator of wanting to run a marathon while helping to raise money for AIDS research. Each runner had a different story for why they were there. Some had been personally touched by AIDS, and others were there for a friend or neighbor.
Throughout the summer, runners fought blisters, shin splints, knee pain, heat, humidity, and difficult fund raising efforts, yet had the perseverance to continue their training toward the biggest athletic adventure of their lives.
Week after week they met me in Maryland to run through Rock Creek Park and the surrounding areas. We used Jeff Galloway’s Run Walk Run training method to cover the miles needed to prepare for 26.2 miles in late October. Most stuck with the program and eagerly met me each Sunday morning.
On October 25th their tenacity and persistence paid off, and 125 runners crossed the biggest finish lines of their lives. Not only had they just run 26.2 miles, but they had raised money for AIDS research through their determination and perseverance.
Today when I’m running races in DC, I still see some of those runners I coached 17 years ago. They’ve persevered and turned being a couch potato into being a bona fide runner, and I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of them!
Tell me about a time when your perseverance paid off.
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Next Wednesday’s Word: Motivation
Of course I love this word. Running does take perseverance, but it has a great pay-off too!
Coco recently posted…Celebrating National Running Day
I thought you would love it! 🙂
I loved your account of your Whitman-Walker runners. I got into distance running in a similar way, raising money for Team in Training, and reading your piece brought back all of that exciting time. And I only had to train for a half marathon! I can’t begin to tell you how much our coaches helped us — they made a huge difference for me.
That’s great! It was a joy to work with and meet so many nice people that would never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.
As always you remind me of JUST what I need to hear on a given day. SO sad to have missed the Wednesday Word with my craziness over the past few weeks, but I do write the posts in my head and ponder the word. We need to invent something that can miraculously turn that into actual words on “paper”.
xoxo
Erin Troia recently posted…Wednesday Word: Appreciation
It’s good to have you back this week!
I didn’t realize you’ve been coaching for so long! So interesting and yes it does take a ton of perseverance to go from beginner to marathoner. Happy running day!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…Reston Sprint Tri Recap & What’s next?
Thank you, and Happy Running Day to you, too!
I always wonder what makes a person persevere. Some people give up more easily than others.
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home recently posted…Perseverance
Very true, and I often wonder why…
This hits close to home — I’m training for the Marine Corps Marathon and fundraising for cancer research. Perseverance is exactly what it takes to survive the heat and humidity of summer runnin’!
briana recently posted…2015 Run for the Dream 8k Recap
Good luck with your marathon training! Super early runs is the best way to deal with DC’s heat and humidity, although it can still be brutal when finishing up those long runs.
That’s awesome you coached so many and they finished 🙂
The Galloway method is a great way to survive in the heat, I used it all last summer and I starting to wonder if I should just use it if I ever decide to train for a marathon again.
Karen recently posted…Canadians Rock! And a Few Other Things 🙂
Walk breaks might be helpful for your long runs, but not necessary for your shorter runs. Also, you can always adjust the walk break frequency depending on how your training is going.
That’s awesome that all 125 of them made it through the training program and across the finish line that year! Twenty six weeks is a loooong time to follow a training plan, and that definitely takes a lot of dedication and perseverance. I bet it’s a neat feeling to see some of them still running in the DC area so many years later.
Meagan recently posted…Wednesday Word: Perseverance
Yes, it’s very nice seeing them. It would have been nice if I’d been able to coach closer to home so I could see them at local races as well.
That story gave me chills. How proud you must be of that group.
HoHo Runs recently posted…National Running Day