Running Inspirations (and Enemies)

Man I need water. It's one of those days, y'know? Just did not start off with enough, and continuously didn't have enough.
This morning I went on an excellent run. (Yes, this is going to be another running post.) Not sure what pace I had, but probably went about 7 miles. Explored a bit, and was one of those people who runs to their next appointment, in the literal sense. I always think those people are cool, like, "Oh I ran to work, and I'm running home." They just seem so cool.

Throughout my running career, I've had the haters. Sure, they're not actually hating to me, but they're a general hater. The vibe of what they're saying is "Oh. You think you're doing well? Ha, what a loser." These are the people that make me feel like I'm not a runner. These people are what I like to call my running enemies.

One of these people? My director for Duck TV.
There have been many instances in the short time that I've known her that she's made my running feel inadequate. The first instance came when I mentioned the running club, and how I found out my pace wasn't fast enough. Sure, she told me it was B.S., but she also said "We could always use SLOWER runners." Do I really need the slower label? I suppose it's true, but it just sounded like it was filled with attitude.
The other instance was when I asked her about her mileage. She said six to seven miles a day.
"Every day?"
"Well, I AM a runner."

This comment kind of irked me. I run about 4 to 5 miles four days a week. Do I still think of myself as a runner? Yes! Do my friends and family think of me as a runner? Totally! And I believe that the people who run 3 miles four times a week are runners. Or, if you continuously run any distance. If running is part of your regular schedule, you are a runner.

Then again, she also gave me sass about running my marathon "too young". You know what? I already ran it. And I kicked ass. So you can shut yo mouth.

I do have one other running enemy, and that's anything that calls my pace "jogging". I'm running, dang it! I think 9 minute miles count as running! I'm putting a valid effort into it! Arg. Curse you online meters...

On the other hand, I have plenty of running inspirations. Amazing people who make me want to keep going. A lot of those people are bloggers. Reading about Kat's, Ann's, or Kate's running makes me want to impress them. I want to be running too! Pretty much any blogger that I see talking about running makes me want to run. I think "I can do that. I will do that."

However, as much as you ladies inspire me, I have one person that inspires me the most to run.

Ashley from Healthy Ashley

This girl is crazy amazing. She's run half marathons, marathons, ultras, triathlons, and Ironmans. That in itself is amazing. What makes her truly incredible though has to do with an event that happened about five months ago. She got into a terrible bike accident. Even as a reader of her blog, it was horrible to hear what happened. Would she race again? She had to get surgery on her hip, including screws being put in. But you know what happened?
She ran again. And she ran a marathon in January. THAT is incredible.

The funny thing is, I have very different views from her, or at least from what I've read in her blog. I'm not even sure if we'd get along in real life, we're so different. But the way she strives forward in running just makes me want to push myself even more.
It's good to have inspiration. For every hater, you should find someone that pushes you forward. Or at least someone who puts out that much inspiration for many haters.

Goodness. My body is not used to caffeine, because I am wide awake and I shouldn't be. I should be very tired. Hoo boy.

Who is your running inspiration? Do you have running enemies?