An anniversary to remember

One year ago today I started distance running. I was going through a difficult time and was looking for ways to get my life back in order. Even though I played a lot of sports in high school, endurance was not one of my strong suits. I convinced myself that it's just the way I was so I never really tried to push my limit. Twenty minutes was the longest I had ever ran continuously.  So naturally I started out thinking that it would just be two or three miles three times a week. I never imagined that I would end up running half marathons.

I dug through a journal that I was keeping at the time and found this paragraph about my first run:

I decided to go for a run this morning, two laps around the park next to our house. It's been years since I've jogged and man it was hard! In the beginning it felt like my wimpy legs were struggling to drag the rest of my lazy ass body forward. Once the adrenaline kicked in it got a little better. I lasted about ten minutes before I had to stop and walk. My lungs and the lower right side were hurting quite a lot. I alternated between running and walking for the rest of the jog. It was about 20 minutes.

Once around the park is about 0.6 miles so that makes my first run 1.2 miles.

Two half marathons and one 12K races later, I'm still running and loving it. I've ran a total of around 600 miles since that day. Running is now an integral part of my life. As a matter of fact, it changed my life. That probably sounds cheesy to a lot of people; I guess you just have to be a runner to understand it!

I expect to be celebrating this day for many years to come - as long as my legs will carry me.

Haaapppppyyyyy anniverrrrsarrrrryyyyy!