Tulsa Run 2003

A brief history of how I started running.

I've always loved sports and I've always liked to win. My school years were before Title IX was passed, so I never had much opportunity to participate in school sanctioned, competitive athletics. Only boys' teams had coaches, uniforms, facilities and money. :-)

I played on a city softball team in elementary school and took all of the P.E. classes available in high school, including tennis, volleyball, softball, basketball (in Oklahoma, girls played a 6 man team--we couldn't cross over the half-court line . . . !), gymnastics, Red Cross Senior Lifesaving, and Red Cross Water Safety Instructor. I wasn't great or even remarkable at any of them, but I loved it all!

I did *some* running after college-I'm not sure why. It just seemed the thing to do. And after I got married, before we had children, I did a little more running-not much. Just because.

Mostly, I've been a walker for many years-don't remember when or how or why I started.

Fast forward to summer, 2003. One of my brothers challenged me to join the family in the Tulsa Run in October of 2003. "What me, run? Okay, I guess I could give that a try. Why not?" So, without much forethought or ado, I said yes. What was I thinking?

Not having a clue what I was doing, I began running, in the heat of summer (July) adding a minute or two to each day's run. Training, to put it loosely. By myself, on my own. No mentor or guide. I've always been a bit on the independent side . . . :-)

Being fairly disciplined and goal-oriented, I stuck with it, increased my time weekly, and after 3 1/2 months of training, ran in the Tulsa Run 2003, a 15K. My time was 1 hour and 26 minutes. Not bad for an older woman who went from walking (only) to running 9.3 miles in less than 4 months.

Enough for now. In an upcoming post I'll write about my next big race.