I am a runner (not a jogger)

(My own version of Runner's World penguin column. I may not be fast, I may actually be relatively slow, but I am still a runner.)

I am a runner because I train and I improve, although gradually. I have a plan, a calendar and a log.

I am a runner because everything else I do -- spin, swim, eliptical, yoga, weight lifting, core work -- is cross training. And nothing else is quite as satisfying.

I am a runner because I race. Not to win, but against myself. I sign up and get a bib number and I run to beat my own time, to PR. (And to get the t-shirt)

I am a runner because I am no wimp. I run in all kinds of crazy north-midwestern weather. Rain, snow, hail. When it reached -30 below windchill and my car wouldn't start, I braved frostbite to get to the apartment gym and get on a treadmill.

I am a runner because I have gear. And gu. And shoes. And retired running shoes.

I am a runner because I think about my food, well some of my food, as fuel.

I am a runner because I have tested and broken my limit. I have been sidelined by injury. I have hurt my feet, my IT band, felt soreness is shins and hamstrings. I am learning to embrace those limits and listen to them.

I am a runner because I can't help but talk about running to friends, family and coworkers. And I sometimes talk other people into running or training with me.

I am a runner because I have never feel quite as alive as I do on the trail, running through the woods, crunching fallen leaves, listening to the rush of the river and the rythem of my breath.

I am a runner because I can be. I want to be.