Friday, June 26, 2009

Lead by Example

What a cliche, right? "Lead by Example." But it is so true. I have friends out there who always looked at me like I was crazy for running, especially as much as I do. Now, granted, running marathons isn't everyone's idea of an enjoyable Saturday afternoon, but running in general can be. Experience has taught me that urging people to run doesn't really work. However, just running and being the living example of the benefits can be really motivating for some people. I have had a handful of friends call me up, text, email, or whatever to let me know that they are now training for a half marathon, they are training to improve their run times for their PT (physical training) tests for the military, or (like yesterday) that they are seriously going to train for a full-on marathon. To no end-this makes my heart smile. One, because they know that I am here to listen and encourage as a friend, but more importantly, they are feeling the benefits of what running can do for their health and they are taking it to the next level. Good luck my compadres!


PS. I'm running the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon tomorrow--I might need some luck of my own!

3 comments:

Stuart said...

You should try and convince your friends to run Virtual 5K's. They are simple to train for and a good way to start to try and get into competitive running or running for their health. A virtual 5K is good in that if they don't run that much, they can run a 3.1 mile course by themselves. I came across a good one the other day that a website called Healthiest-Executive does. They do an on ground 5K as well as a virtual 5K.
Just thought I'd pass the word along. Good luck in your training.

Offshoot said...

I've never heard of a virtual 5K before. I'll have to google it!

cross country said...

I understand what it is like to want friends to run with you but they don't want to. Most of my friends run when I'm at college because i run cross country and track, but when i go home, none of my friends want to run. And walking isn't the same as running so i completley understand. My dad motivated me to run by runnning himself. He lead by example for me and I thought i'd try running and i absolutly loved it! Running is an amazing thing! Keep it up!