Chariots of Fire

Last night, I sat down with a couple other runners and we watched this movie!



Earlier in the day, my friend Kyle and I got inspired to watch a running movie. We drove up to Malibu to run the Xterra Malibu Creek trail race. It was fun! I ran the 22K and she ran the 6K. When we signed up for the race a few weeks ago, I tried to talk her into running the 22K, but she felt that was too far. I kept saying, "Of course you can run 14 miles!" She is also training for the LA Marathon, like me, but she insisted she wanted to run the 6K, which is only 4 miles.
So, on the drive up, she pulled out some running shoes with spikes and asked me if I thought she would need them! I was like, "Um, I don't think so. . . " I don't know anything about running shoes with spikes! I was thinking, this isn't a track meet! I've never seen anyone wear spikes on the trails. That's when I started to realize that while we are both runners, our approach to the sport is very different.
So we get there and my race started at 7:30 and her race started at 8:00. The 22K was so much fun! (Okay, I've never ran a race that wasn't fun, but I digress.) We ran up Bulldog, which is a 2.5 mile climb over about 2,000 feet. This course was almost identical to the Bulldog 25K which was my very first trail race in August 2007. So being out there brought back so many memories!
When I finished my race, I found Kyle near the finish line. She was wearing TWO medals. I asked her what the bigger medal was for, and she told me she won first place female in the 6K! I was so proud of her! Wow! Then she pointed out some of the other elite runners she had met while waiting for me to finish my race. I finally understood why she insisted on running the 6K. And now I hope she will stick to the short distances, since she is obviously very good at it! I'm so glad she had a good time AND won 1st place female. Later in the day, I noticed she had updated her Facebook status: "Kyle is now addicted to trail races!" Yeah!

I've learned that people who consider themselves runners often have very different approaches to the sport. Some people are sprinters. They like to run the short distances, really fast, like 5K's and 10K's. They are constantly working on improving their speed and form. Then there are the long-distance runners who like to run half-marathons, marathons, and ultramarathons. These runners are often putting in the big mileage to improve their endurance. There are street-runners and trail runners. There are casual runners, who get out and run a couple times a week because they know it's good for their health. And there are the more serious runners who constantly have their calendar filled with upcoming races. No matter what type of runner you are, what I think is important is that you get out there and run because you love it! Some people don't like running at all, and that's okay too!

I love the opening scene of this movie and the music. And while it's kinda cheesy, it just makes me think about how much I enjoy being outdoors, running, enjoying nature, and enjoying the way my body feels when I'm running. And that is why I keep looking forward to my next running adventure!