Journey With Sam

I realize I don’t post much anymore, but celebrating global running day seemed like a good chance to reflect on my favorite hobby. I wanted to look back on how I got to where I am and how much running has brought into my life.

My Running Journey

Sports Training

I have had a love/hate relationship with running my whole life. In elementary school, Center Grove did a mile run each year and I loved it! I wasn’t the fastest, but man was it fun to compete. I even remember missing the mile run one year because we were late and I refused to miss running so I did the 5k in the freezing rain. I was stubborn even back then.

After that, running was punishment for sports I participated in. You cringed when you heard “get on the line”. We did cardio strictly to be better at the sport. I ran miles around Deicke Park for volleyball training in the crazy humid August pre-season training. I did more suicides than I want to remember (running from sideline to sideline). Running wasn’t something I would ever have considered doing for fun.

Post College Motivation

Once I finished my volleyball career, I needed something to keep me in shape and motivated. Purdue Rec Center had an Ironman challenge and I was intrigued. I had seen Ironman championships on tv and thought those people were insane and amazing. So I signed up and had a full month to complete an Ironman (and man was it hard). I spent all month trying to complete 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking, and 26.2 miles running and I did it (although I graduated and never got the t-shirt…still bitter about that). I actually had a lot of fun swimming and biking and to me, running was just a way to the end. After graduation, I did a sprint triathlon in my home town on a crappy Walmart bike. I had no idea what I was doing, but I actually loved it. It was the start of my beautiful running journey.

Team Z Triathlon in DC

Moving to DC brought about challenges of starting a new life and meeting new friends. I attended a random open water swim put on by a local triathlon team and loved it! I signed up with Team Z the next week and it was one of the best decisions of my life. I met some of my best friends while training with this team. I learned how to swim and bike correctly and I even learned how to like running. Running became a social event for me. We met for morning track practices and ran miles after work at the local running store. The weekends were for long runs where we caught up on the week and laughed through the miles. Yes, there were of course bad runs, but this group of people made me love running. My group of Team Z teammates are still heavily in my life and I cannot image my life without them. A group of us still meet every year for a running weekend in a new state to catch up and do what we love together. Not to mention the non-running adventures we have done from hiking to vacations to rallies to weddings and so much more.

Family Runs

I still can’t quite believe I conned my dad into running a half marathon with me at Disney in 2013 and that we haven’t stopped. It turned into a family affair in 2017 with my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law joining. Since then, I have run many more races with family. We have a lot of fun. I cannot wait to start having Amy join for runs.

Shoes & Brews in Colorado

When moving to Colorado, I had no idea how I was going to meet people and make friends. I was mostly out of my triathlon era and didn’t know how else to make friends. Emily told me about this cool place called Shoes & Brews and I knew that was going to be my place. I went the first week I lived in Colorado and have never looked back. The Thursday social runs have shaped my life in Colorado by introducing me to another incredible group of people. My S&B crew are my Colorado family. We run together, laugh together, drink together, and more. I cannot imagine my life without them and hope they know they are stuck with me. Once again, running had changed my life for the better.

Running Through Cancer

Obviously cancer threw my life off track for a bit, but I knew that running would help me get through it. Except for a few bad weeks, I attended S&B runs every week. I was slower, but I was not going to let cancer stop me. I walked the 5k with friends after getting my biopsy. I joined for portions of weekend runs so I could keep being social. I kept getting outside to run with Callie and just tried to enjoy being able to do it. My goal was to not let cancer win and I could do that by running. It has not been an easy journey and I have lost a lot of speed that I will likely never get back, but I have learned to embrace that I “get” to run no matter what my pace, which has been a long learning curve for me.

I went home for Christmas in 2019 after starting chemo treatments and laid in bed looking at races to complete once I was done with my cancer journey. In my search, I discovered American Cancer Society Team Determination doing runDisney races and everything clicked into place. Running a Disney race with friends and family would be my celebration lap. It was my light at the end of the tunnel. Plus how could I beat raising money to fight this terrible disease while running at my happy place. I had no idea COVID was coming and would ruin those plans. I also had no idea that joining Team Determination would introduce a whole new family into my life.

My Team Determination teammates grew to be a big part of my life. We were runners that supported each other and raised money for an incredible cause. We held Zoom meetings to catch up, play Disney trivia, and plan for when racing would return. We celebrated successes together and got through hard times together. People ask why I keep doing so many runDisney races post COVID…the answer is to see my ACS family.

Introducing Friends to Running

I finally got to give back and get people into running! I have introduced several of my travel agent buddies to runDisney and they are now addicted. I am hoping they have discovered a new love for running that will introduce amazing things into their lives like it has done for me.

Dog Runs

Not only have I developed the best friendships through running, but it has enhanced my life with Callie and Zoey. Callie was by far my favorite run buddy (sorry to all my human run buddies). She started running with me as I was recovering from a knee surgery and we never stopped. She ran with me right up until I lost her to cancer. She knew it was time to run when I grabbed my socks and shoes and she sprinted around until I put on her harness. Anticipation for a run was one of the few times she actually was vocal. We learned that she hated the warmer climates and we made up for it during the winter. She eventually even did a half marathon with me in 2020 when my runDisney race was cancelled. She ran with the biggest smile on her face and was totally in her element. She only wishes that I could have been faster.

I am now sharing my love of running with Zoey. It has only been a few months but she is learning to hit her stride and not cut back and forth across the trail. She skipped right to the door this morning as I was putting on my running shoes. She adores the S&B nights and all of the human and dog friends she gets to see. We will have to wait until after summer to see how much distance we will train her on, but for now, she seems to adore her 3 mile runs.

Running is Life

Growing up, I never would have imagined I would become a runner, let alone that my life would semi revolve around running. I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me that my idea of a fun Saturday morning was crushing miles with friends. I wouldn’t have believed that running would be a driver to help me fight cancer. I wouldn’t have believed that running was therapeutic and could drag me through some of the hardest times in my life. I wouldn’t have believed that running would be the reason I have so many incredible friends and memories. I wouldn’t have believed that I would be traveling to new states for running. I wouldn’t have believed that I would have 3 knee surgeries and still not be willing to give up running. I might actually have believed that I would enjoy running through Disney (I have always had a thing for Disney).

Running has changed my life. I used to laugh when people would say something like that, but it is true. Running has made me a better person and brought some of the best people into my life. Running has challenged me to tackle obstacles and see what I can do. Running helped me beat cancer and raise over $15,000 in the fight against cancer. So I want to say thank you to running for giving me so much joy in life and I cannot wait to see where my running journey takes me in the future.

And if you don’t run and are reading this, give it a try. It took me several years to really embrace running. Don’t give up on it. Also find that local running store and go meet some amazing people.

Finally, it only seems appropriate that we kicked off Chicago Marathon training around Global Running Day. I will yet again be running with American Cancer Society and raising funds to help in the fight against cancer. I will be running with a mix of people from throughout my running journey including Jess from my Shoes & Brews crew and several of my Team Determination crew. It will be my first World Major and we shall see if that starts a new journey to chase stars.

If you are interested in donating to support my race and Team RunDisney Takes Chicago, you can do so by clicking here.