I am not sure what made me decide to try to run a year ago. Maybe it was the health benefits, maybe it was that I needed some "alone time" away from the 5 kids and husband, maybe I needed to get reacquainted with myself before I turned 40 in a few months. For whatever the reason I laced up my tennis shoes and started out of the driveway. My goal that first day was simple- to not die. It wasn't that I didn't exercise. There was weight lifting and Zumba, but this was different. This was me proving to myself that I could do it. I had no sights on being in any races or wanting to make it a certain distance, I just wanted to see what I could do.
My feet hit the pavement, my heart was pumping, I could feel my lungs working, I could feel myself wearing out. Then I realized I had barely made it to my neighbors house! I completed the 3 mile square around our country neighborhood by walking. It wasn't that I came home feeling defeated, I just knew I had a challenge to tackle. Nearly everyday I continued to try to run the "track". At that point in time I would say I was using the term running loosely. I was really wogging or doing a mixture of walking and jogging. Throughout the summer I increased my capacity to run by finally tackling the 3 mile track without stopping. I wasn't fast, but I was making it. That is when the fire was lit.
Soon after the school year started I was looking for a 5k to run. My friend told me about one that would take place less than 2 weeks from then. Gulp! I signed up and the fear ensued. In September of 2009 I ran my first 5k. My hope was to finish without stopping and to hopefully not be the last person. I met that goal and immediately began looking for the next race. Something wonderful happened after that first race. An acquaintance of mine from subbing fitness classes asked about running with me. We had never really had any long conversations, but I needed a running buddy and she was nice. Over the next several months I learned that when you least expect it you can be growing an amazing friendship. We ran several races in the Fall and Spring and also began training for a half marathon. For the girl who had always come in last during the runs at school, a half marathon seemed surreal.
The Disney Half Marathon was a highlight of this year. While I was sad that my running buddy Jenny wouldn't be running it with me, I was ecstatic that 3 of my life long friends would be sharing the weekend with me and that they would have worked to run the 5k the day before.
I will share more about what I learned in those races later, but for now what about you? What are you afraid of doing or accomplishing? What do you need to "lace up" and jump into? The process has not been easy. I have not met all of the goals I had hoped to accomplish. I know what it is like to come in last but still know that I will run again. There is a quote by John Bingham that I will leave you with, "The miracle is not that I finished, the miracle is that I had the courage to start." Run Friends, Run!
