Races and Remembering

Well I'm about to do again folks.  I've signed up for my third half marathon in the last year....making that one 5k (Boston Jolly Jaunt), one 5-miler (Harpoon Brewery 5 Miler), two Chilly Half Marathons, one Baystate Half Marathon (come October!) and one full marathon (San Diego Rock n' Roll) all in 365 days.  Plus a wednesday consisting of a 30 minute tempo run.  Wait. That's today.

So the newest addition to my race total is the Chilly Half Marathon in Newton, MA.  Interested?  Sign up HERE.

I'm trying to get my good friend Olivia, from Diablog, to do it with me.  She was a former roomie and now a bestie.  She is just getting into running so I thought maybe this would be nice to get the race started together!! C'mon Boliv!!!

The 2010 race was my first ever long road race (I had done a handful of 5k and 10k races previously) and marked my inaugural stint into the world of running!  Finishing faster than 2 hours made me feel like I really did belong in the running world.

Reading Jess of Blonde Ponytail's latest post (Planting my "Running Seed") got me thinking. Since it'll be one year ago that I started really running and training, I thought it might serve as a nice reminder as to why I signed up do this first race, and take a walk down memory lane. (Thanks Jess! I hope you don't mind that I dovetailed your post with my own ramblings!!).

Running was a saving grace for me. I'm not sure if I'll ever do it enough justice, or thank the sport enough for helping me work through some difficult feelings and frustrations. My own "running seed" was planted when I decided enough was enough; that I wanted to focus on me instead of the life I didn't think I would ever have or giving too much of myself to people who didn't appreciate all I had to give.  Maybe I'm skirting around the issue and not speaking directly about it (I do work in the public schools) but I felt a lot of hurts and was tired of letting other people dictate my self esteem.

So in August of 2010, I started running and I didn't stop. I wasn't sure how I would feel after that marathon (and a missing toenail later...by the way it did finally fall off). It was a lot of dedication, and a lot of solo me time, regardless of the fact that I ran in a pack of beautiful women. I had to keep myself involved and motivated...I had to push myself to run when I didn't want to i.e. stressed, tired, and overworked. I had to stay in on friday nights and get up early saturday mornings. I vowed to not date anyone until after it was over (oops. best mistake ever.) although I'm guessing that focusing on myself and my fun helped in ways I will never understand but will always be grateful for.

Now that I've taken some time to sleep, lay low, travel, run on my own agenda, and enjoy my friends/family, I feel myself getting back on that running horse and doing it all over again.

While journaling my own adventures, I've been amazed at how many people have started their own running stories, or have been inspired to at least incorporate healthy eating and fitness into their lifestyles.  In no way am I bragging, but its felt good to set off a little fire underneath some people's butt's...from my family...to friends...to ex's... to current boyfriends (if you read this, you know its true, ha!). 

Hopefully I have a lifetime of miles to run. And if for some reason I don't, at least I know how I got there, and will continue to use those thoughts to keep me motivated and healthy in other aspects of my life.

I also wish for tight abs...so lets see if I can use my positive thinking to will those as well. Eh I can't be serious all the time. It hurts me brain!

  

(Forever and always my biggest supporters. Obviously go mom go is a big one as well.)