I stopped her and asked if she had just moved into a house on my street. “Yes!” she said. “Well, I’m a couple of houses up the hill. My husband brought your dog back to you the other night but we’ve not met. I’m Kim.” She shook my (VERY SWEATY) hand and said, “Yeah. You’re the one who runs marathons?”
Huh? Me? No way.
It was obvious I was hesitant to take that claim and she said, “Yeah – that’s what K told me.” K lives across the street and we rarely ever talk, but she obviously knows who I am. “Yeah! I guess that’s me! HA!” We bid farewell and continued our journeys in the opposite direction.
I told my friend, “What? My neighbors describe me as the MARATHON RUNNER? REALLY?”
I mean…there is no other thing in the world that could have made me feel more awesome in that moment than that realization. I guess it’s not too shocking, I do have a neighbor who asks about our upcoming races, and another who sees me after all of my runs because they do a lot of yard work. They don’t know I’ve only run one marathon EVER, but really…I’ve got 2 more on my schedule for this year and two other ULTRAs…so why can I not be the “one who runs the marathons?”
It’s just an amazing thing. I’m tattooed. Young. A little quirky and weird. I just always assumed those things were the predominant traits that people used to describe me if they only saw me periodically. It’s weird to know that now…not even one year after signing up for my first half-marathon training class (It won’t be One Year until August) – that now I’m just the lady on the hill who runs the marathons.
It’s pretty damn awesome. I’ll be honest. I’m walking with a bit more bounce in my step. That IS me, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve only run one this year, but if all goes well by the end of 2012 I’ll have run 3 marathons, 2 ultras, and 3 half-marathons. So, yeah. I’ll take the name and I’ll wear it proudly. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
And here I am applauding you (again) one who runs marathons!
That is so, so cool! “The lady up the hill who runs marathons”–yep, that sounds like you!
Now you’ve got me wondering how my neighbors describe me LOL
I think you need a t-shirt to commemorate/remind you that you ARE the lady who runs marathons! And an inspiration to many of us in this here series of tubes. 🙂
Awesome!
Thought you would like the message with this picture. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=383205561744188&set=a.122031077861639.20056.121933104538103&type=1&ref=nf
Just sold a house to a couple two doors down the hill from you! She also likes to run and I told her about you too! Might have used the same description even, but I think I just told her you were awesome 🙂 Love your blog. So sweet, so inspirational. Kind of in a mental groove now! Feel like I can conquer my new dreams and the world now… Well, tomorrow. Enjoying reading your blog and some beers tonight!