Feb. 2009 - D-Day

This last week I signed up for a half marathon. It's not something that I would have ever pictured myself doing - ever. I've never liked running. Even in Junior High I was on the "alternate" cross-country team - like even under J.V. They didn't expect us to do well. We were just on the team to promote good health and exercise - the 'who cares when they cross the finish line' part of the team who didn't even get a team shirt. But it was the sense of accomplishment when I crossed that finish line, every joint and ligament throbbing in my body as my chest heaved with exhaustion, that kept me going.

Flash forward to today - education done, married, two toddlers and slightly bigger hips. Running, to me, has changed. I go to the gym in the mornings when most people are still asleep to work out and run. That has become the one thing I can do for myself that makes me feel good, healthy, and fit. At times, yes, I do obsess about how thin I am (or not), or how many calories I'm consuming in a given day to offset the ones I've burned that morning, or even how many miles I can get in during a given time. But running is freeing. I can think, pray, even just BE while my body just keeps plodding on.

It's not the most comfortable thing to do. At times I've had to quit because of knee or back pain (makes me feel old) or foot pain at times (and that's only running 8 miles). But I haven't given up - I don't want to give up.
So this week after contemplating it for months and training with an idea that "I'm trying to see if I can actually do it," I stopped being a what-if-er and entered my name into the starting lineup to run 13.1 miles on Feb 1, 2009. It's not going to be about finishing first, or even how fast I do it. For me, it's about accomplishing something that a year or even a few months ago would have seemed impossible for me. It's about finishing something that I can be proud of and training to do it well. God give me the strength and the endurance to take on this challenge.