Once upon a time lil Savitre used to sit in the kitchen and watch on her 9" tv the NYC Marathon received via antenna with knob controls. She sat in awe of the amazing runners with eyes wide open at the sight of these athletes running, picking up a drinking cup, and dumping the water on their head. OH HOW FUN THAT LOOKS!!!...Savitre thought to herself. :o)
Nothing ever stopped her from imitating those that she admired. As the marathon pla
yed in the background, she set up dixie cups (filled with water) around her kitchen and dining room. (Her 1970s kitchen had two doorways where you could enter from one side and leave through the other into the dining room making a complete circle...good for running laps). She pretended that she too was running the marathon. As she approached a dixie cup while running around the kitchen, she would pick it up and dump the water on her head (of course making a mess all over the kitchen floor and dining room carpet) and celebrate victoriously with winners of the race. Sure enough she got in tremendous trouble but her mom COULD NEVER stop her on the days the marathon was aired.
Although the marathon was fun and exciting to watch, Savitre was never a long distance runner. She had always been a sprinter. Her favorite athletes were James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens and Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis. Reading was not her favorite subject in school, but nothing could stop her from wanting to learn more about these Olympic medal winners. Every morning at the bus stop, she would ask her friends to meet her there early so they could get a few races in (up and down the block before the bus came). In gym, she broke numerous records for the short distance runs and from third grade to senior year in high school Savitre received the President's Challenge award (at the time her most valuable prized possession because it had the President's signature on it).Throughout college, running was no longer a priority. It wasn't until she became a teacher and met Erin, a small town girl from Iowa, that did marathons. "What?!?!?" she thought to herself. Could anyone just sign up to run a marathon? Did they not have to be an Olympic medal winner? With a huge smile on her face, Savitre dreamt of running in the same marathon just to be able to dump that cup of water on her head and NOT get in trouble for it.
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John "The Penguin" Bingham
One day after getting into an argument with her college boyfriend, she decided to get out of the car and walk 5 miles home. Realizing that she was able to easily walk this distance, she also realized it was the best way for her to deal with anything going on in her life (stress, work, school, people, etc.). It was Savitre's alone time; her time to think and clear her mind. It was Savitre's happy place. :o)
The next day, she went out and bought her first pair of running shoes at Fleet Feet. It's been awhile since she's "ran"...so it took her about 15 minutes to do one mile. It never really mattered to her how long it took because the longer it took the more time she had to herself.
Going through several resources to find the dos and don'ts of running, she came across The Courage to Start: A Guide to Running for Your Life by John Bingham.
"Once an overweight couch potato with a glut of bad habits, including smoking and drinking, at the age of 43 Bingham looked mid-life in the face-and started running." A native of Chicago, he has become a role model for all ages and abilities. When he first started running and ran past shop windows, he thought to himself that he didn't look like a "runner" but more like a penguin waddling, and so, he calls himself "The Penguin".Savitre felt like she could completely relate to this guy. Eventually, she bought every book he had written and even followed his blog as he trained for the Goofy Challenge the same year she ran it. This was very inspirational because it helped her to know that someone else was battling training in the bitter Chicago winter for a major race in Florida.
Before you knew it, she started doing a bunch of 5K races and had fun dressing up (as an angel, an M&M, a reindeer, a Purdue Boilermaker train, and even a banana) at these races. To her, it was fun being at the back of the pack. Running was meant for enjoyment and solitude not competition. Eventually, the 5K races lead to 8K then 10milers and half marathons. It eventually led to the proudest event of her life...the 2003 Chicago Marathon. Although it took her about 5 hrs and 15 mins to complete her first marathon, there was not one water station that Savitre did not stop at and grab a cup of water and dumped it on her head. It was definitely 26 miles of smiles. :o)
She eventually ran 3 more marathons: 2004 Chicago Marathon, 2006 Goofy Challenge, and 2007 NYC Marathon. Soon after the NYC Marathon, Savitre's running career came to a halt. Since then, it's been a complete struggle to get back into a routine. She yearns for the running bug and that runner's high that she once felt. She also hopes to one day return to the marathoning world.
As more races are approaching, Savitre seeks the support of others to cheer her on, be her guide, and provide words of encouragment. She isn't looking to come in first or have her personal best but hopes to find the love for the sport of running that she once had found.
