The Listserve is an email list of over 20,000 people who receive a single email every day from a member of the list. The person is chosen at random and can share whatever wisdom or inspiration they wish without attempting to sell anything or link to anything. This week, I had my chance to address The Listserve.
Last Friday, I received an email inviting me to send a message to the list. I went through a few ideas before my friend Damien gave a couple recommendations and inspired me to write about running. I decided I wanted to write about it without really writing about myself while telling my story. I composed my email to the list, and my friend Jessica was kind enough to edit for me, before sending it in.
This past Wednesday, as I left the subway to get to work, my phone started exploding with texts and twitter mentions. My email had gone out to everyone and people were commenting on it. I received numerous twitter mentions and over a hundred emails about my story, and I was glad I could inspire people with my going from the couch to the NYC marathon in under two years.
Below is the email that went to the list. Join the conversation.
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[The Listserve] Start running your race now
One Sunday in February 2010, I was at brunch with some friends, and I mentioned that I had an interest in taking up running. As friends are known to do, they egged me on until we decided that, as a group, that we would run a 5K together. I started the Couch to 5K program the next day and 9 weeks later was able to run the 5K faster than my friends, some of whom were experienced runners.
Having been able to do 3.1 miles, I was bitten by the bug. I began the Couch to 10K program, and then sought out other training programs online. The first weekend of January 2011, I was able to run my first half marathon. With 13.1 miles completed, there was only one other goal left to achieve. Ten months later, I was able to run the ING NYC Marathon with American Cancer Society’s Team Determination. Less than two years after taking the running first steps, and with the support and enthusiasm of my friends, I was able to run 26.2 miles through the streets of New York.
I was 35 when I first began running and am now, two and a half years later, an avid runner. I have run dozens of races of varying length and am preparing to run my third marathon. Having started so late in life, I was able to prove to myself that you can learn new things and set new goals for yourself at any age.
0.01% percent of all people have run a marathon, what can you start doing now that so few other people have accomplished?
