I once held the belief that running was unnatural. I parroted the notion that marathons were “terrible on the body.” My actual running experience was limited to periodically sprinting through my Brooklyn neighborhood pushing a stroller-late to school drop-off-lungs burning, sputtering, “I hate running.” (See: Read This If You Don’t Run, But Want to)
I consistently give my best to running and, unsurprisingly, I get the very most out of it. Being competitive has brought out a discipline and energy in me that I thought I was too old to cultivate. And that day in the coffee shop, I found the realization-and finally sharing it-so exhilarating, that I found myself channeling Julie telling them, "You can do it too."
