A Podcast, an Inhaler, and Carl Wheezer – The Story of How I Ran 365 Miles in 242 Days

This past week, I went on a two mile run.

From the outside observer, this run probably looked just like any other two mile run. But to me, this two mile run…well this one was special.

On August 31, 2022, 242 days into the year, I officially surpassed my goal of running 365 miles in 365 days!

While I am very proud of this accomplishment, as I look back on the past 242 days I am even more proud about how, in attempting this goal, I was able to take unfortunate circumstances and turn them around to become one of the most positive, empowering times in my life.  

Megan Sets a Goal

As 2021 came to a close, I finally had the guts to admit to myself that I was just not very happy, plain and simple. I was living in a new state, working a new (very challenging) job, I spent most of my days alone, and I just felt like I was lacking a general sense of purpose. To top it all off, I had recently found out some scary family news that was weighing heavy on my heart. To everyone who asked, I assured them that I was A-Okay. To myself, I realized something needed to change.

Around this same time, I began listening to a podcast called Hurdle, in which the host spoke with entrepreneurs and other people who overcame hard times in their lives (Hurdle Moments, as she called them) by leaning into fitness. Looking back, it is very clear that I was going through a Hurdle Moment of my own. At the time, though, I was just inspired to introduce some new healthy habits into my life. When it came time to make New Year’s Resolutions, I went bold. I decided I was going to run 365 miles in 2022, or an average of a mile a day. I told my family of my plan, and to my surprise, they said they wanted in too. Before I knew it, The Great Family 365 Mile Challenge was underway.

Megan Accomplishes Her Goal!

At the risk of sounding dramatic, this goal changed my life. Or at the very least, it completely and utterly turned around my experience in Arizona into something that was motivating, positive, and really really empowering. This goal gave me a sense of purpose, and in return I was healthier and happier than I have ever been in my life.

I realized I am capable of doing hard things, but I also learned that life is all about what you make of the circumstances you are given. Nothing physically changed between my first six months and last six months in Arizona, but the experience I finished with, and how I felt, was a complete 180 from what I started with. So yes, I am proud that I ran 365 miles, but I am even more proud that in doing so I was able to tackle my Hurdle Moment head on and make it into a really positive, transformative time in my life. (Hurdle by Emily Abbate – check it out, you won’t be sorry)

So in honor of reaching this milestone, I thought I would share the story of my half marathon, written in June of this year, very soon after I finished the race.

The piece is titled “Carl.”

Carl

This is a story about Carl Wheezer. And by that I mean this is a story about how I ran my first half marathon.

I assume most people who will be reading this know who Carl Wheezer is because, well, he was a cultural icon of the early 2000’s television scene. For those who don’t know, Carl is one of boy genius Jimmy Neutron’s best friends in the aptly titled TV show “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius” which aired on Nickelodeon from 2002-2006.

This is Carl:

A pretty cool guy right?

I should preface this story with the disclaimer that I have never in my life, until this year, been a runner. In fact for a long time, I actively detested running. There was a reason I danced, after all.

Megan Starts Running

I started running in January of 2022 for several reasons but before you knew it I was running multiple times a week, starting to build up mileage, and weirdly kind of liking it? I promise you no one was as surprised as me. Around this same time, I realized that if there was ever a time in my life I was going to run a half marathon it would be this year. I boldly and presumptuously signed up in February for the Rock and Roll half marathon in San Diego on June 5^th and hoped for the best.   

To my credit, I came up with a training plan, or rather I found the Nike training plan online, and I stuck to it. I would wake up early on my off days to run before the Arizona heat settled in, I would cross-train with yoga on the other days, and I felt great. Leading up to my Hawaii trip the at the end of May I was up to 12 miles and I felt strong and prepared for the coming race. Also to my credit, I even kept up my running while I was on in Hawaii (yes, I was that girl on vacation. I hated me too). Nothing was going to bring me down. (Yes that is foreshadowing).

T-2 Weeks Until the Race

I had big plans for the last two weeks leading up to the race. I was going to practice with a water bottle belt, I was going to practice eating electrolyte gummies, I was going to practice picking up my pace and emulating race day conditions. I had a lot of plans for practicing. The universe, however, had other plans for me.

Monday after work I had a bit of a sore throat, no big deal. Tuesday a little bit of congestion settled in, nothing I couldn’t fight. Two packets of Emergen-C, a zinc lonzege, chicken soup, a kombucha, daily vitamins, and a light outdoor walk later and I was actually starting to feel better. In fact, I felt great. I felt powerful. I single-handedly fought off this sickness from taking hold in my body. Nothing was going to bring me down.

And then Wednesday came.

Megan Gets Sick

I got to work at 6am and by 10:30am I was home, in my sweats, on the couch, mug of tea in hand. When my roommate heard me he exclaimed excitedly, “Oh smoker Megan is back!” due to the croak I tried to pass off as my voice. Things were not looking good. Everything would have been fine too if it wasn’t for that meddling cough. It came from a crevice of sadness in the depths of my chest, each hack silently screaming, “don’t run! don’t run!” I would try to go on walks during that week to get some fresh air, and I could make it not a single mile before feeling like death was imminent. Things were not looking good.

Flash forward to Tuesday before the race, I am finally starting to feel like a human being again. Despite the chorus of people telling me it was a terrible idea it was to run in the race on Sunday, I was searching for some way, anyway to make it work. I had trained so hard, so consistently for six months and I couldn’t fathom it not amounting to anything, even if I knew I had gained so much just from the process itself. You know, life is a journey, not a destination, and all that stuff. Still, there had to be a way.

I was just on the verge of giving up all hope when I heard this voice, deep in my soul whispering to me, “you’re a wiener.”

No that can’t be right.

I listened closer.

“You’re a winner.”

It was Carl, from my childhood, urging me on, telling me there was a way. And I knew in my bones there was a way, one single path to surviving this half marathon.

I needed to go full Carl.

Megan Goes Full Carl

And I did. I searched and searched through all of my belongings until I found it, the holy grail, the savior of asthmatics throughout history, or at least since the advent of modern medicine. I found my inhaler. I started slow and worked my way up to six miles by the end of the week. I was assimilating to my full power of being a Carl, craving the glorious puff of the medicated air coating my lungs as I pictured my victorious lunge across the finish line on Sunday, Rocky theme song playing in the background. By Thursday, my transition was complete:

I was by no means ready, but I had an inhaler and blind faith and that’s the most I could have asked for given the circumstances.

Megan Runs 13.1 Miles

I won’t say the race went perfectly. For one thing, I did not take into account that San Diego had potential be a bit…hillier than the flat desolate nothingness of the Arizona desert I trained in. For another, I had to go to the bathroom basically from the minute I started the race, but was too stubborn to wait in line at any of the porta potties along the route. Finally, I ran slow. Like, occasionally I would see people who were walking pass by me, slow. But as I crossed that finish line, I was so filled with unbridled pride in myself and my accomplishment that none of those hiccups mattered to me.  

Running 13.1 miles without stopping is something I never in my life thought I would be capable of. I have always struggled sticking to fitness goals I set for myself, or really any personal goal outside of school or work. To train for something for so many months, to have drive and dedication and discipline, to have it almost all fall apart at the very end, and to persevere anyways? It was a pretty magical feeling. I knew in that moment I can do hard things. I can do things I have never done before, things I didn’t even think possible for myself. I can make a goal, stick to it, and come out a better, stronger person. I can take a bad situation and turn it around and make something great out of it. I can be Carl Wheezer, not just because he was nerdy and used an inhaler, but because he was smart and loyal and kind and helped save the world from invading aliens.

So yeah, I went full Carl. I ran a half marathon. And inhaler in hand, I can stand proudly say I’m a wiener… I mean winner.