Culture, Lifestyle, Women
Making the impossible possible.
About seven years ago I told a friend: “I have a heart defect, but I can do almost anything, except run a marathon”. She shrugged. There are lots of people who don’t run marathons, no big deal.
Six years ago I started running anyway. It was Spring, the weather was nice and I saw some of my friends post their runs on Facebook. I started running with a start to run app. First for one minute at a time, then gradually I moved to two, but then I never managed to get to 3 minutes.
As I couldn’t run for a longer period of time, I decided to focus on distance, running intervals all the way. I run until my heart rate gets too high and then I walk to get it back down. That’s the only way I can run. It’s either that or not running at all. I first did a Ladies Run, which was 3 kilometers. I definitely was at the back of the pack, but I wasn’t last and I enjoyed it. After that I started training for my first 5k, then 10k. Then I faced another hurdle, because of my run-walking I have to take into account the time limit of a race and I can’t just enter any race I want. I have to check the time limit first and preferably also the results of the previous year. Not necessarily because I’m afraid of getting last, but if the gap between me and the runner in front of me gets too big, organizers often get anxious and then there are often a lot of comments. People look at me and see a petite, somewhat athletic looking girl and can’t figure out why I have to walk half the time.
Anyway, I found a half marathon without a time limit and finished in under three hours. After that I decided to risk it and enrolled in the Berlin Marathon. Just to see how far I could go. I might finish, or maybe I’d only make it till 30k. Whatever happened happened. Worst case scenario I’d enjoy a 30k run through the streets of Berlin with lots of other runners around. But against all the odds, the impossible was possible: I ran the Berlin Marathon and I’m now a marathon runner and have now completed four marathons.
I meet quite a lot of people, often women, that think they can’t run. Either because they think they are not fast enough or their bodies aren’t made for running or they are afraid of finishing last. But let’s be real here, if I can run, against all odds with my heart defect and my ridiculously high heart rate, then so can you! Because of my heart defect I’m not a fast runner and I’ll never become one, no matter how hard I train. I run because it makes me happy, not to beat someone else. There is nothing better than exploring the world in running shoes. I don’t race others, I race myself. Running allows me to conquer myself.
