Every journey begins with a single step.

Two years ago I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without feeling exhausted and out of breath.  A year ago,  it was a challenge to run more than two miles without stopping to take a break. Six months ago, I never imagined that four miles would be my easy run.  Today I ran ten miles.   

To some that is a small number.  To others, it is astronomical.  For me it is an enormous milestone.   Was today easy?  No.  Was it fun?  Part of it was, part of it hurt and challenged every ounce of my will power. It also reminded me how far I've come.  How every step in my journey has led me to this point and beyond.

It started as a standard run. . .easy pace for the first four miles; slow down to hydrate every two miles (because I haven't yet learned how to drink and run without choking). When I hit mile six I was laughing because I only had four miles left.  Four miles was yesterday's run!  That's nothing; I knew I had it. The last two miles challenged my body and my mind. My legs were tired.  I could feel my brain kicking in with the self-defeat talk.   I refused to quit, refused to give in to the pain and exhaustion.  I haven't quit on anything so far, why start now?

When the Garmin finally beeped that I'd hit mile 10, I slowed down to a walk and hit stop on the timer.  I looked at the watch and immediately realized what I'd accomplished.  Pride and gratitude hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to cry.  I cried for the me of two years ago, the one that struggled and fought to become the me of today.  I cried for the ability God gave me to run, for the sheer gift of legs that carry me from one place to another (sometimes at a pretty decent pace), for the people that believe in me and encourage me (because I could never have gotten this far without my support system). 

I couldn't be more grateful that I never gave up. . .on running or my journey in general.  Running is a great metaphor for life.  Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it hurts.  There are hills and valleys, personal bests, and challenging days.  The point is, keep putting one foot in front of the other; the finish line is ahead!  Don't give up on your goals just because you don't see results immediately.  I didn't see results for a few weeks after I started working out and eating right.  And I didn't see results with running until I really put 100% effort into it. 

Give your goals your all.  Find your motivation and run with it.  Your motivation lies within, by the way.  Only YOU can determine what you're working towards and why.  Mine lies in finally getting a first in a 5K and finishing a half-marathon with a smile on my face.  

The key is to keep the goal in mind.  As long as there's a goal there is a journey. 

It's Really a Giant Thank You Note

My journey to good health doesn't just include learning to eat right and finding the right workouts.  It is more than physical; it is emotional, too.   Every day I not only work to improve my physical self, but also my emotional self.  It is much easier to work on the emotional stuff if you have a great support system, which I do.  I start and finish every day by listing things I am grateful for.  Friends show up on that list daily.

I am blessed and lucky to have the people in my life that I do.  My friends are amazing.  I wouldn't be half of who I am without them.  Each of them brings something different to my world.  I love the diversity but also the common themes that run throughout my friendships. Silliness prevails; there is also extreme intelligence; a shared love of books and music (though we don't always agree on genre); running (if they don't, they respect that I do); and good beer.  My friends give great advice and know when to shut up.  Some of my friends have only been around a little while, some have been around for years, and some parted ways with me but then came back years later (YAY).  

For most of my life I have believed that people come into our lives for a reason.  They stay as long as we need them to and then they move on.  Perhaps we stay in their lives as long as they need us before we are the ones that move on.  I could spend hours analyzing why I think certain people have come into my life.  Instead of doing that I am going to appreciate what my friends give, appreciate the lessons we are learning from each other.  Most of all I am going to enjoy every minute I get to spend with these folks.  Be it a text message from hundreds of miles away, a phone call from down the street, face to face over dinner/lunch/brunch/cocktails, or side by side as we cross a finish line (yeah, that meant a lot to me).  Every laugh, every smile, every word of wisdom, every great conversation and the dumb ones, too.  I'm soaking it in and loving it. 

I am a firm believer in surrounding yourself with those that build you up, that make you smile, that let you know it's okay to be you. Learn from the people that share your life.  Allow them to learn from you, too.  Embrace them and be grateful every single day. Share the celebrations and the sorrows.  The people I have surrounded myself with don't make me want to be a better person--they make me want to be a better ME.   They are full of love, wisdom, and humor. . . all things I need to continue to be successful on my journey.  

"A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself."  ~Jim Morrison

Forgive my absence, it's been a heck of a few months!

So last time you heard from me I had just started back to school.  Still on track, still working out and doing what was needed to stay in shape.  It was a rough school year, folks; I can't lie about it.  I learned a ton about myself over the course of the last nine months and am more than happy to take my life lessons.  There are a few, but the biggest is how I feel about running.  I warned you last year that I probably wasn't done posting about this activity.  Now's your chance to bail. . .

Since I last wrote I've gotten even more serious about running. Last summer I ran a few miles here and there, never anything over three.  Many days I never even hit three.  As the fall became winter, I got a little slack with running and wasn't putting much into it. I let my head get the best of me and was giving up way to early in the run.  In November someone entered my life that I not only respect as a person, but as an athlete.  We ran together once and it changed my entire outlook on running.  As I took off on the beach trying to seem like a "real runner," I realized I had no clue.  My head took over and my self confidence crashed.  I made it barely a mile before throwing in the towel, embarrassed and knowing I needed work. Lucky for me my run partner that day believed in me and started helping me get out of my head and push myself. Together we set a goal to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in April.  For someone that had never run more than 3 miles, this was a pretty exciting (and kind of scary) goal.

I started training.  Actual training with a run schedule and everything.  Because I was running more I had to tweak the diet.  That was actually fun and scary all at once.  I knew I needed more calories to fuel my runs, but I was paranoid of the dreaded weight gain.  What I failed to remember is that I'm armed with all the information I need to keep my diet in check to fuel my body appropriately and not gain weight.  I was successful with maintaining my current weight while upping the calories until I got injured.  I did something to my hip thinking I was Super Runner and increased too much too soon.  Just a little overuse injury that hurt like hell and grounded me from running.  While not running, I forgot to lower the calories and gained 5 pounds.  (I know you're all going, "oooh, a whole 5 pounds."  Well for me, 5 pounds is a lot)  This was an easy enough fix and I was able to drop it pretty quickly.

In April I crossed that bridge with several thousand of my closest friends and my AMAZING run partner, Steve.  My original goal for Bridge Run was to finish happy.  As my training progressed I decided I wanted a time goal and set it for under an hour.  Then injury happened and I had to return to the original goal of finishing happy.  I finished two minutes over that time goal with a smile as big as the moon on my face.  Within seconds of crossing the finish I said, "next year. . . "

Since April my hip has healed thanks to a lot of patience from various trainers, my chiropractor, my run coach, and my own body. My mileage has increased along with my endurance. My training continues as I race a few 5Ks this summer and move towards what's next.  That half marathon is looking pretty enticing right now.  The other day as I headed out for my long run I started to laugh at my own appearance. For someone that once thought running was a cheap way to keep fit I was loaded down with a lot of gear. . .  CamelBak handheld water bottle, Brooks Launch, Garmin, heart rate monitor, sport beans.  While I may look like I know what I'm doing; I really am clueless.  The one thing I know for sure is that I love it and it makes me happy; so I'll keep lacing up those shoes and running out the door.