How I Got Into Running

Diving into My Hilarious Running History and The Unlikely Story of How I Became a “Runner”

The Early Days

Most trainers you meet will probably tout the titles of “former athlete,” “high school soccer star,” or “former track and field athlete.” Let me tell you - I was one of the most un-athletic kids out there and to this day I still have a personal zero-ball sport participation policy ( I'll dive more into my why here in a future post ). I always said “I'm just not a runner,” until recent years, but I think my story could definitely help others that share that sentiment feel a little more seen. Plus, it's funny to reminisce!

It all started in elementary school really, I hated the whatever-yard-dash they made us do, I didn't like the outdoors, being sweaty, none of it. Plus I had to stop and walk every time, it just wasn't my thing. Anywayyyyys, by the time I was in middle school, I thought I was hot-stuff “dating” this JV football player a grade up from me. After football season, he dumped me and joined cross country for the spring and so, obviously, middle school me decided I would also join cross country to try to get his attention. To make a long story short, day one, the warm up was to do 2 laps around the school. Everyone took off running and halfway through lap one, there was a huge hill — everyone sprinted up the hill, I had to stop and walk, then once everyone was out of sight, I immediately threw up. Needless to say, I didn't make it past the warm up and gave up that idea lol!

Things got slightly better in high school; I continued to dance and cheer until one day my senior year, the track coach asked if I could fill in for someone in the 100M and 300M hurdle event. I told him, “hey, I'm not a runner,” but he convinced me that it was more jumping than running so I agreed. I got a few track meets under my belt, I was feeling good going into this big tournament halfway through the season. It was the biggest crowd I had run in front of, but I was used to cheering and dancing in front of bigger crowds so I didn't sweat it much — until, the starting pop went off, I'm leading the pack to hurdle #1, my foot catches and I just slideeee across the track. The whole crowd made the loudest gasp, like ever, but I picked myself up and kept going. I finished the event a little scraped up, but wow oh wow was I so embarrassed and swore I “just wasn't a runner.”

Post College

We'll skip the college days because this was when I was dancing, teaching barre classes and training for my first bodybuilding competition. I will say, I distinctly remember having the option to either stair climb for 45min or run for 20min as cardio options aaaaand guess which one I always picked haha!

Anywho, when I moved out to CLT and started as a personal training client at WKS, trainers made me run as a part of my workouts and man did I hate every second of it. It brought me back to all of my bad memories from my childhood and I felt like it was a million times harder than the rest of the workouts I had done. Eventually, I realized leading into pursuing my dream of becoming a TopCat meant that I needed to seriously focus on my cardio endurance — something I knew from my past that I didn't have a natural knack for.

When I filled out my application for TopCats, they asked for personal goals I had for myself. For whatever reason, I decided it might be a good idea to “get good at running,” so I wrote, “I will run the Charlotte Half Marathon in November.” Honestly, I thought it would be cool but I didn't really think anything else of it!

When S*** Got Real

Ultimately, I did not make the team that year, but I left auditions hungry to come back better, stronger and with more confidence. I wasn't sure if anyone would remember the half-marathon goal that I set in my intake forms, but I definitely wasn't taking any chances. So, I began making peace with the form of exercise I had always hated.

For my first half-marathon, I used the Nike Run Club App, and over those 14 weeks of training, I went through a variety of emotions, soreness, moments of catching my stride, and realizations of just how powerful the human spirit is. After my first half, I continued to keep one long run a week in my routine and in this year's TopCat audition forms, I wrote about accomplishing my half-marathon goal and set a new one to run a full marathon this year!

Running through Life

Yes, I still dread some runs. Yes, there are a ton of days where it's too hot, or I'm tired, or I just don't want to go for a run. But, the rewarding feeling that those post-run endorphins give is unmatched, and in this season of my life, having strong endurance is something critical! Needless to say, running will continue to be a part of my fitness journey for quite some time and I'm grateful that through repetition, mindset shifts, and lots of patience, my relationship with running is a good one! It's no longer something that leaves me feeling empty, rather something that leaves me feeling empowered.

So, here's to the miles ahead! My hope that if you consider yourself as “not a runner,” you'll walk away from reading this knowing that you can become a runner if it's something on your heart that you want for yourself! ♡

Stay strong, friends!

XX Ariel