Friday, September 23, 2011

How "hacer jogging" made me run

I was thinking a lot during my Philly half marathon this past weekend. I was also running super fast (for me) and clocked in at 1:46:32. Basically, 8 minute miles, back to back, for 13.1 miles. I am quite pleased :)

But what was really on my mind was my time in Spain. I studied in Madrid 5 years ago this fall and stayed with a lovely couple named Babis and Emilio. They treated me like one of their children and took extremely good care of me. They encouraged me to go out, enjoy Spain. They cooked for me, did my laundry (hung my underwear up to dry in the kitchen...), and took care of my when I was sick. I absolutely adored them.

But one thing that always irked me was how casually they viewed my running. By the time I went to Spain, I was pretty firmly invested in my running. I wasn't doing races, but I did run 3-4 times a week. I had the cool clothes, the cool shoes. I took myself somewhat seriously. So whenever it was time for me to hit the pavement, I would say that I was going to "correr." Correr in Spanish means to RUN. My host dad would always respond with how good it was to "hacer jogging." Basically cut me down a size, counter my enthusiasm for running with his belief that I was really only jogging.

Good grief, I really hated that.

It really irritated me to think that I was being classified as a "jogger" when I really believed myself to be a "runner." As someone who loves fitness in all forms, I have nothing really AGAINST joggers. It's just that I don't want to be one. I want to be a RUNNER. Jogging brings to mind velour tracksuits and soccer moms. Someday I'll be a granny and I'll jog. Now I am 25 and I wear shorty shorts and by gosh, I run. Running brings to mind athletes and wild cats. I want to be the wild cat. And during this last race, I really felt like I was. I was passing people, keeping my pace despite a nagging pull in my knee (it's totally gone, I swear). And at the end, I sprinted.

I absolutely refuse to be a jogger. I will not jog - I will only run.