{"id":7929,"date":"2016-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/put-it-in-the-pavement\/"},"modified":"2016-05-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T00:00:00","slug":"put-it-in-the-pavement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/es\/put-it-in-the-pavement\/","title":{"rendered":"Put It in the Pavement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GOTR<\/p>\n

In 1998, I ran my first marathon in the city I lived in and loved \u2013 Chicago. Before training for this marathon I had not run for more than 30 minutes at one time. My training partner was my best friend Caryn. As much as we had in common, our feelings on running was not one of them. Caryn could go on a 40 minute run on a whim\u2026with obnoxious enthusiasm too.<\/p>\n

At the time, running any minutes past one was mainly dreadful to me and it required a lot of mental preparation. Caryn saw it as a great release. When her and her boyfriend hit a brick wall in their relationship, Caryn laced up her Sauconys and went for a long run.<\/p>\n

I can still remember the day we ran six miles. It was a first time for me. We got out early when the air was still crisp. As we started down Ashland Avenue heading north, I remember I was so nervous. I didn\u2019t know then what this jittery tension meant. How could I be so nervous for running? It wasn\u2019t even a race.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to realize that being nervous is a really good thing. It means that you care and you want to do well. Running long runs helped me realize this.<\/p>\n

In the almost 18 years from that time, I\u2019ve run a lot. I still get nervous for long runs and so far I’ve survived all of them (please note: survived does not necessarily mean completed!), and the running has taught me a lot along the way. To be honest, I don\u2019t love running. In fact, most times I\u2019d rather do anything else. But I\u2019ve learned that running is good for me. And here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n