As I make my slow return to running, I’ve been thinking a lot about the term ‘runner’. You see, as I’ve been away from running since the start of April, and have to very carefully ease myself back in on my still-healing ankle, I’ve been feeling like a bit of a bad runner.
And then it hit me.
If I go out and run, that makes me a runner. It doesn’t matter if I go out every day, or once a week, or even less often than that, taking part in the activity of running makes me a runner. It doesn’t matter if I run for 1 minute and then walk for 1 minute. It doesn’t matter if I run for 1 mile or 10 miles. I have never been a fast runner, even at my peak, but d’you know what? A 15 minute mile is just as far as a 7 minute mile.
I’ve never taken running overly seriously. I’ve always written my own training plans, changed things up on the fly, and if I’m being perfectly honest, last year I didn’t really train for any of the half marathons that I ran. I guess I’ve always been lucky to be able to get away with it, but things are different now. I’m finding it hard being so set back from where I was before, and feeling the pressure of my upcoming marathon, but it is just that, a setback. Setbacks are made to be overcome.
But despite all this, I’m still a runner. I don’t have to run a 10K every day to call myself a runner, I don’t have to have a precise training and nutrition plan to call myself a runner, and I don’t have to be a fast runner to call myself a runner. Anyone who gets out and runs is a runner, and that’s what counts.
Lottie Does 
I loved this! I used to run lots but the heatwave we’ve been having means I haven’t been able to go out at all, I really want to get back to it and although I might only run once or twice a week so I’m definitely not as committed as some people I agree we’re still runners not matter how long we train for or how often we train!
Jess // foundationsandfairytales.wordpress.com
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I love this! I only seriously started running this year, and I think the reason I’ve kept it up so long and am actually ENJOYING it for the first time ever is because I’m doing it with no goals, no expectations, and no comparisons to anyone else in mind. I’m just getting out there and running as often as I can and as often as I fancy it. I’m not fast, the most I can do distance wise is 10K, but I’m having a blast. And I am a runner!
Sarah | @xpectopatronerd
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