The First Time I Ran
Before opening Gain, I had a serious rough patch. After a year of cautiously training to not aggravate my back and my hip, I took a year off from all working out. As a former athlete, I had nothing to train for. The feeling of no motivation combined with fear of making my injuries worse kept me me away from the gym.
Running always hurt. In college, during captain’s practice we would run down Hills Beach Road. Every time, no matter would I would strain a groin muscle. It would leave my limping for a day or two and eventually it would go away until our next running workout.
I remember thinking back then, when running was so painful and boring to me, that I should run a marathon one day. I hated it so much and it was so uncomfortable, I felt like I had to try and put that aside and try a marathon, eventually.
That thought left my brain and I hadn’t thought about it for many years when I decided to run with Hannah on a Saturday morning. It was spring 2014 and I had recently started to get back in the gym. I was getting my injuries under control and dedicated a lot of time to rolling and stretching. My new motivation was to be a human. I wanted to move well and stop hesitating for fear of injury.
That meant I needed to learn how to run, without getting hurt. I dove into running mechanics, learned about the Pose Method, and prioritized the skill of running over running for time or distance. I still didn’t like running, but felt like I should be able to run.
That Saturday morning, Hannah and I headed out of my Hampton apartment with a goal to run the 1.2 miles to the Secret Spot. Breakfast burritos and iced coffee were an excellent motivator.
I thought about how to lean and fall to create momentum, how to quickly pull my foot off the ground after letting it kiss the pavement for only a fraction of a second. Upon reaching our destination my calves seized up, my achilles tendons ached and the bottoms of my feet we displeased with my decision to run.
We ate our breakfast burritos while watching cars full of people drive by headed to the beach. We decided to walk home, not run. This became our weekly ritual throughout the whole summer, my first real introduction to running.
One day in September, we ran down and found the place boarded up. Closed for the season. I forgot about running after that summer. It would be another two years, after we got Clementine, that I discovered trail running and finally started calling myself a runner.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
