Just Keep Running!!

It's been ages since I wrote on here, but I finally feel like I'm getting into a routine with my internship and other jobs!

May 2, 2011 was a life changing day for me. On this day, I registered for the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon! I planned on doing it last year, but I tried to register way too late and both races were sold out. So this year when I decided to commit and run it, I signed up the first day you were able to register!

Although I registered and in my eyes that means I've made the commitment to run it, running and training for it is a different story. Last week was my first week of training. I have been working out with my friend Gab, who has been a runner all of her life. We actually meant in high school because we were on the same cross country team. She transferred to public school as a freshman and I remember the first day we met. It was the first day of cross country practice in the summer and we were running the road by our high school called the axis road. I was a very slow runner, and that day, I beat my friend Gab. I was so excited and relieved because I wasn't going to be the slowest runner that year. Well that's what I thought. Although I beat her the first day of practice, every practice after that, she beat me and she was one of the best runners on the team. It was so funny that now I can still say that I beat her running once.

She has now since graduated college and we are living in the same town again. The running aspect of friendship, has been a new and exciting one. I have never trained with her directly, and we have never had chats like we have been having before. I'm loving the new branch of our friendship. It's been amazing to have a friend that I've known for so long, help me in such a different way than ever before.

The first night we ran, we were both under the impression that we would run for approximately 30 minutes or so, but we ended up running for 52 minutes, which worked out to be 3.5 miles. WOW! I was so surprised that I ran that much this early on. I just kept running and Gab and I chatted the whole time. It was insane. I really pushed through my doubts and fears of being able to run for longer than I had imagined and went for it. My pushing through has paid off.

The next time we ran together, we switched up the location and we ended up running longer time and distance wise. We ran for 1 hour and we ran 4.5 miles! What a difference a day can make. The following day, we ran for 1 hour and 4 minutes and we ran 4.6 miles.

Each day I run, I continuously thinking about the children and families that are receiving care at St. Jude Children Research Hospital and that puts things into perspective for me. I also think about my Grandpa Bob who was affected by cancer. He passed in 2000 and he was the first major relative to say goodbye to. I miss him every day and I wish I had more time with him. Now I put my time and energy into organizations and projects that I believe in and have been affected by.

Yesterday was the first day I wasn't able to run with Gab,and I knew that it would be a test day. A test day to see if I could really run on my own and for the same amount of time I had the previous days. I was nervous, but I was also focused. My run started off great and then my foot fell asleep. I ended up walking for roughly 5-8 minutes, but I ran for 1 hour and 20 minutes! I'm not sure of the mileage, but I was so thrilled. My running progress has been amazing and I'm really enjoying this journey.

I'm super excited to continue to train for this event come December 2, 2011! It's been so positive and I've never really heard people tell me they were proud of my running. People have been proud of me for other things and events I've been a part of, but never running.

Cheers to my new love for running and for my success in running the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon.

More posts to follow my progress....