One Year Runniversary

My year in races....

A couple weeks late....but just about a year ago, I decided to run my first half marathon. I'd started and stopped running regularly many times over the years and always wanted to do a half marathon. 13.1 seemed like so many miles...and I thought that I would never be able to do that. So I finally decided to give it a shot. And not be scared of failing. Or of working really hard for something. And then failing. That self doubt always stopped me from getting very far....

Now I was ready to just go for it. I started going on short runs...about 2 miles or so around the neighborhood. Looking back over my training for the last year is kind of cool. I ran between 2-3 miles 4 days a week for a full month and a half...then I started pushing that up. Slowly but surely, I was ticking off all these firsts. First time I ran 5 miles, then 7 miles, then my first run in the double digits. Then I tackled a full 13 a couple weeks before that first race. It felt so incredibly good to accomplish that and to cross the finish line of my first half marathon. I wanted to keep feeling that. To keep pushing farther.

So I kept training, kept working on my pace and endurance, and getting a few more races under my belt. One year later and I've run a lot of miles-nearly 1000. I've run 4 5K's, 2 10K's, 5 Half Marathons and one 200 mile running relay with a team of 12. That's more than I planned to accomplish. So I'm proud of that. And it's only going to get more intense...first full marathon in October and then another 200 mile relay-with 6 people this time. Kind of makes me want to throw up. Just a little bit.

But I think I'm ready. After all, a year ago, 13.1 miles sounded insurmountable. But I conquered it. And I will conquer this too.