LexRunLadies
Resolution Runners take on 2012
by Krissie Carr Bentley
I wanted to be a runner for years. I had such envy for the runners I would see across town gliding across the sidewalks. I wanted the wind in my hair. I wanted to see my surroundings in a new way. I wanted to feel the power of running.
It took me a long time to get there. It took two years for me to fall in love with running. I think a lot of that was because I was running by myself. I had my own schedule. No one knew if I cut my run short. No one knew if I walked up a hill I could have run. No one knew if I didn’t give it all I had.
I spend a lot of time on twitter and facebook. I saw so many of my virtual friends struggle with running. So many people wanted to run but had a hard time sticking to it or figuring out what they should do. I remember being stuck in that place. I remember wanting to want it, but letting the couch win. I wanted to help my friends.
In October of last year, I decided to start a running group. I didn’t want there to be any expectations at all. I wanted to be welcoming of everyone at all shapes, experience, and speeds. I wanted to involve women who were super fast and women who were just starting to walk for fitness. I wanted to provide the support to other women that I would have liked to have when I was struggling.
Just like that, LexRunLadies was born.
Over the past three months, we have met at various locations throughout Lexington. We’ve run on our own in groups as small as three and as large as twenty. We’ve run races. We’ve run with other running groups. We’ve volunteered at races. We are becoming what I had envisioned, but we’re getting there much quicker than I had hoped.
The LexRunLadies group provides structure. Our group runs were a little sporadic through the holiday season, but we have transitioned into a set schedule for runs. The runners and walkers who are training for longer distances come out for group runs on Saturday mornings in a variety of locations in Lexington and the surrounding area. Our Resolution Runners are meeting on Sunday afternoons and following Couch to 5K, a training program which uses running and walking intervals to get your body ready to run a 5K.
The group also provides support and accountability. LexRunLadies has grown because of social media. Twitter and facebook have been instrumental in getting information out and getting questions answered. We talk about injuries, recovery foods, and planned runs through twitter conversations and facebook posts. Accountability is a factor in sticking to a running schedule. If you say you’ll be at a run on facebook and don’t show up, someone will ask you about it. The community has become strong in a short amount of time because of the frequency with which we interact via social media. We encourage each other. We celebrate each other’s successes. And we also provide the firm “get your butt outside already!”
LexRunLadies is a group that truly meets everyone where they are. Our tagline is “for women who run, kinda run, or want to run.” I try very hard to live up to that. We welcome fast runners. We welcome runners who are learning to run. We welcome runners who are content to run long but not fast. We welcome injured runners who walk. And we welcome walkers who think they might want to become runners someday. We are most concerned with creating a community where everyone is welcomed where they are, but who want to become better and stronger because of the community.
I am so excited about the response to the Resolution Runners program. We are meeting on Sunday afternoons. The next group will begin on Sunday, January 15. We will meet behind the Liquor Barn in Hamburg and will run/walk the Brighton Rail Trail.
The training program is designed to prepare to you to run the Shamrock Shuffle 3K on March 17 and the Race to Read 5K on March 24. We will also have a graduation dinner at the Thai Orchid Cafe to celebrate. I am so thankful to be partnered with the Shamrock Shuffle, Race to Read, John’s Run/Walk Shop, the High Street YMCA, and Thai Orchid to present the Resolution Runners program.
The Resolution Runners Program is open to women and men of any fitness level who want to work toward running a 5K. Info, visit www.LexRunLadies.com or email LexRunLadies@gmail.com.
This article also appears on page 6 of the January 12 print edition of Ace Weekly’s Annual Health and Wellness Issue.
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