running: my road to boston
Running has been at the heart of many of my life’s positive experiences. When I was 13 years old, my best friend and I would run 2 miles to the corner store, buy some Hostess mini donuts and a kiwi strawberry Snapple and share them on our walk home.
running as an escape
During my parent’s divorce, running was my escape. In college, running the UCLA perimeter was a social activity. In 2002 my husband and I did the Powereman Duathlon in Birmingham Alabama through Team in Training. It was then that it occurred to me I could potentially complete a marathon. With this motivation I began training and completed my first marathon in October 2003. I had set my goal at 4 hours and I came across the finish line at 4:00.50.
There are many other things I want to do in my life and each of them is achievable as long as I make the commitment to achieve them.
This marathon taught me two things: 1. I could complete a marathon. 2. What it meant to hit the “wall”. It was also during this marathon that I told myself that one day, I would run the Boston Marathon.
my second marathon
I ran my second marathon in 2004, improving my time by 17 minutes. In 2006, I achieved my goal of 3:30 in the Chicago marathon and most recently finished the Sacramento Marathon this past December. My goal time for Sacramento was 3:20 but I was never convinced that this was an achievable goal. All through the marathon I was keeping pace with the 3:20 group but wary of what I would have left for the end. At mile 22 my husband joined me to mentally push me through the last 4 miles and told me “I already booked the hotel in Boston”. It was then that I told myself “3:20 is your goal and you can do it” — and I did. I crossed the finish line at 3:20:23.
Since competing in these events I have discovered that there are many other things I want to do in my life and each of them is achievable as long as I make the commitment to achieve them. As I write this, I am only a few weeks away from the Boston marathon. Although I have finished my longest training run and worked on my speed through tempo runs and interval training, I know that come April 20th, I will have to once again push myself both mentally and physically to achieve another goal that I have been working towards for the past 7 years.
I am nervous and anxious for the difficult course I’ll be up against in Boston. I know that with my training, support from family and friends, and the drive to reach my goal, that nothing will stop me. Maybe I’ll even finish off the race with a kiwi strawberry Snapple and a pack of Hostess donuts.
Carolyn is a senior buyer at lululemon and is featured above wearing our See Me Jacket, a super breathable and water resistant run jacket. To see more photos from our running photoshoot with Carolyn, visit our set on flickr.
