Full on Faith

So, if you follow my personal social media accounts (no pressure!), you’ll know that I just finished my third half marathon and snagged a 2-minute PR! Woohoo! Now, what does this have to do with not being good at things? Let me tell you: I really struggle with running. “No, no, Julianne, you’re so good—you ran a half marathon, right?” Well, it’s okay to admit that I’m not great at it, and I’m fully aware of my limitations. My comfortable pace is around 13:30 to 14:00 minutes per mile, and even after running for over a year, I haven’t gotten any faster. And that’s totally okay!

I’ve come to terms with the fact that my body might not be built for running, and that’s perfectly fine too. I’m built like a brick house, and I don’t see that as a bad thing; it’s just a fact of life. My whole family has a history of being farmers, both on my dad’s side, with lumberjacks from the Appalachians, and on my mom’s side, with farmers from New Mexico. I’m more of a workhorse than a fast cheetah, and I’ve learned to embrace that!

But here is what I learned from making myself do something that I’m not good at.

1. I am way more resilient than I thought I was.

• I am way more resilient than I thought I was! I never thought I was going to be able to run more than 30 seconds without having to catch my breath, and here I am running 1.5hours without stopping because, let’s be honest, I walked 2-3 times during my half.
• My cholesterol is better than ever! I know this is kind of basic, but doing cardio exercise actually really does help your cholesterol
• Running makes me sleep SO GOOD AT NIGHT. This may come as no surprise to you but I sleep so well after a good run, and it’s not necessarily the same kind of tired that you get with weightlifting, because I used to weightlift ALL the time.
• Every time I lace up my shoes, I face my limits, and honestly, it’s been kind of eye-opening. At first, it felt rough watching others go super fast past me, but I started to appreciate the slower pace. I noticed little things—my own breath, and the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground. Being a slow runner taught me to just enjoy the journey instead of stressing about speed! Now, I celebrate every mile I finish as a win, and it’s a great reminder that it’s not just about how fast you go, but the experience along the way.

Now here are the Cons:

• So, like I said previously, My body is not made for running, my hips hurt no matter what exercises I do the only thing that has helped my hips is Pilates and my gym doesn’t have Pilates when I am able to go 😦
• I hate taking 2-2.5 hours out of my weekend to do my long runs, which are an essential part of half-marathon training. I like having time, and time is something that I don’t have unlimited amounts of! I am BUSY, and where I am a slow runner, it’s really hard to get those miles in and still have time to do everything that I want/need to do.
• The cost is another factor. Between registration fees, gear, nutrition, and sometimes travel, it can add up pretty quickly. Anyone who says just take up running because “it’s free” THEY’RE LYING
• Plus, the mental challenge is real; just thinking about running 13.1 miles can be daunting. After the race, recovery can be tough too—I usually find myself sore and fatigued for days.
• LASTLY, my appetite is so much harder to control, it’s much harder to listen to my hunger cues when I have run. Sometimes, when I run afterward, I am starving, and other times, I want to throw up and won’t eat the rest of the day. It’s crazy how much this affects your body for the better and for the worse

Learning to accept that I’m not great at running has been a freeing experience. Instead of focusing on speed or trying to keep up with others, I’ve embraced my own journey and the joy that comes with it. I’ve realized that it’s perfectly okay to have a slower pace; what matters is that I’m out there, enjoying the fresh air and the rhythm of my feet on the ground. Each run has become a chance to appreciate my body for what it can do, rather than lamenting what it can’t. Embracing my limitations has allowed me to shift my perspective from competition to self-acceptance, making each mile feel like a personal victory. Running may not be my forte, but the experience itself has brought me so much more than I ever expected. Now will I be running more than 6miles ever again? Probably not but hey at least I did it!

Bye Besties,

Julianne