Will I ever reach three miles in under 30 minutes?

Kristen as jogger/Artistic Director

Written by Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven as part of her ‘What’s my #vision’ series.

May 1, 2016 

I’m one of those people who has always been a jogger. I dreamed of being a runner- you know, those lithe, long legged people who glide down the road at a fast pace without breaking a sweat. But, alas, even when I jogged regularly as a twenty-something year old, I never did a 10km race in less than 60 minutes, let alone 70 minutes.

After sporadic bursts over the past decade of including jogging here and there into my regular exercise routine, I’ve now been jogging three times a week since January, when we became the happy owners of a hand me down treadmill given to us by a neighbour (Thank you Rebeckah and Jim!).

The other day, as I reached my normal 2.5 mile slump and found myself once again sternly saying to myself out loud ‘JUST KEEP GOING KRISTEN!’ I realized that Kristen as jogger is just like Kristen as Artistic Director.

It never gets any easier (the plank never gets any easier for me either by the way). I never get any faster at it really (although I was doing a 12 minute mile in January and am now at an 11:26 minute mile- which is pretty exciting, but, believe me, I’ve accepted the fact that I am not someone who will ever break the 10 minute mile). Plus, I always have to push myself, every. single. time. to not give up at 2.5 miles, but to keep going towards my goal of three miles.

And then, after I’m finished I feel GREAT.

I feel happier, lighter, stronger, more fulfilled and excited that I reached the goal I set for myself. My mind is clearer and all things seem possible.

So, while I still have those moments where I’m angry that I’m not faster, that I can’t accomplish things more quickly, ultimately, who cares that it takes me 40 minutes to jog 3 miles and some people can easily do that in under 25 minutes? Or 7 years to build a theatre company to a $170,000 budget (IF we reach all our goals this year), when some people seem able to start a theatre company and get it to a $250,000 budget in under five years?

I’m doing it and that’s all that matters!

Plus, when I feel the sweat pouring off of me and see myself reflected in the TV screen as I jog, in my mind’s eye, I am long legged, lithe and running a 9 minute mile.

Onwards!