I love my job. I mean, I really, really love my job. How many people can honestly tell you they love what they do for a living? For the most part, people go to work to earn a paycheck and go home. But I am in the rare position of actually, really, truly loving what I do. David, my boss and owner of all 3 FLEET FEET St. Louis stores, always says “Do what you love, love what you do.” It’s a good motto and I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do just that.
I don’t just love my job because I get to wear running clothes to work. Although that is a nice perk because A) It’s a little like wearing pajamas all day, and B) I can leave work and immediately go for a run, which I am frequently known to do. And I don’t just love my job because I get to try out all the new shoes and other cool running accessories as they come in.
My dad always said, “Surround yourself with good people.” I can honestly say I’ve done that, some of the people I work with have become like my family. That’s just one more reason I love my job. Runners typically tend to be happy people (it’s the endorphin high) so being around other runners all the time generally makes life better. Additionally, I share in the privilege of leading the weekly social run at the store, so I get to hang out with a bunch of sweaty runners who love pizza. Is there anything better than that?!
The best part of my job, though, is the opportunity to encourage other people in a love of running. My favorite customers are the people who come into the store not really knowing why they want to start running, they just know that they do. These are the customers who want to suck up all the knowledge and all the enthusiasm I can offer. I don’t claim to know all there is to know about running, not even close, but I do know that my passion for it is contagious. It is an absolute joy to work with people who have an open mind to the feeling of freedom and the rush of adrenaline that only a ‘Runner’s high’ can provide. They are just about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, and they have no idea what’s coming.
It’s always funny to me, the people who say, “Well, I’m not really a runner, I just run a couple miles at a time and I’m really slow” or “I’ve only run 1 half-marathon , so I’m not actually a runner.” Umm, yes, you are. It doesn’t matter how far or how fast you run, if you lace up your running shoes on occasion and hit the trail or the road or the track for a 50-miler or 50 meters or anything in between, you are a runner.
It’s March. In specialty running, that means track and field season. Despite my early exposure to running, and a life-long love affair with it, I actually have very limited personal experience in the area of track and field. I ran track in Jr. High, but that was really before we got into all the technical equipment of spikes and such. I only ran one season of Cross Country my freshman year of high school and when spring came around I went out for the softball team. I remember my dad taking me to buy my first glove. I still have that glove, it has never been replaced. But anyway, back to running. My friend and co-worker, Barb, is the resident track expert at the store. As a former track coach, she has been incredibly helpful in assisting my efforts to learn the ins and outs of this particular niche of running.
The other day, as I was talking with Barb about my minimal track experience, I began to recall a story. The very first race I ever remember running was the 400m dash at Field Day in 4th grade. If I remember correctly, there were 2 girls from each of the 7 or 8 fourth grade classes signed up for that event and our class held try-outs to see who would represent Mrs. Troster’s room. I know I remember correctly when I say that for most of that race I was in dead last. But somehow, as we came up on the halfway mark, I started to pass some of the other girls. With 100m left I was in second place. And with just a few strides to go, I passed Kim Scott for the win. Talk about a high! Winning is awesome, but there is nothing better than a win like that. It was completely unexpected. When I got home from school later that day, I had a surprise waiting for me, from my dad; a congratulatory Snoopy balloon. I don’t tend to be overly sentimental and keep a lot of stuff just for the sake of nostalgia, because I always say the thing is not the memory. I actually stole that line from Peter Walsh who hosted that show ‘Clean Sweep’ on HGTV. Lindsey quirk #4-I am obsessed with chucking any unnecessary clutter in my life. But I’m pretty sure that balloon is in a box somewhere at my mom’s house. I kept it because it’s not just a deflated Mylar balloon. I kept it because of what it represents. It represents a Never give up attitude and a come from behind win. But it doesn’t just represent winning, because winning isn’t always about being the first one to cross the finish line. It represents a spirit in me that my dad celebrated all those years ago when he gave me that snoopy balloon. It represents the fact that even when I can see that things aren’t going my way, I won’t just give up and quit. I won’t roll over and die. I will fight to the finish. I am strong enough to push through and make a comeback. That wasn’t the only time in my life that I had to make a comeback, and it certainly hasn’t been the most challenging, and I guarantee there will be more. I guess you can just call me the Comeback Kid, because the fact of the matter is that I won’t ever quit, even when it’s hard, I’ll keep on pushing forward. And that’s the spirit I hope to impart on every person that I put into a new pair of running shoes at FLEET FEET. It’s just too bad I can’t send them all out of the store with a Snoopy balloon of their own.
Friends that are like family…RRG, Jess and Liz
Lindsey squared heatin it up…leaving out the back door of FLEET FEET so we can do what we love.
The fearless leaders of the FLEET FEET Chesterfield social run…RRG and Cole.