Because I Can

So, even though the longest distance I had ever run in my life was 3.5 miles, I decided back in January that I wanted to run a half marathon. I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time. I never really enjoyed running. I participate in 5k races and I find those fun, but I'm not competitive and I run pretty darn slow compared to most folks in my age group. I don't really like how red my face gets when I run, and I won't even tell you how gross sweating is. So, why decide to do a half? Why put myself through long training runs?

Because I can.

You see, about 4 years ago I was 60 plus pounds heavier than I am now. Walking 3 miles killed me. The thought of running was laughable. In 2008, the hubs and I decided to do the Couch to 5k training as a way to exercise together. Tim took to it like it was his destiny. I, on the other hand, did it just because if I didn't, I would have to find some other torturous exercise to replace it with. It took me over 6 months to actually complete the program. I would run for a few weeks, then get annoyed and stop for several weeks. I would watch Tim just run circles around the rec track. How could he love doing something so boring? Eventually, I picked a 5k to sign up for and forced myself to stick to the program. In March of 2009, I ran my first 5k in 35:24. I felt like a rock star!

I'd like to be able to say that after that, I loved running, but I did not. I still did 5k races and would run at least a few times a week, but I was never as serious as Tim was. I was jealous of him. I wanted to feel as awesome as he did after accomplishing a goal that took him months to train for. So, when I saw that there was going to be a Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in St. Louis, I decided I would go for the half. We signed up really early so I would have plenty of time to start/stop my training and would already have made the monetary commitment. No backing out now!

And here I am. Training for my first half marathon and I'm actually enjoying it. I'm not the fastest runner, in fact, I am pretty slow. But that doesn't bother me much. I figure as long my two legs are moving, I'm all good. See, that is the great thing about running: anyone can do it. It doesn't matter how big or small, fast or slow- it's just one foot in front of the other.

I can do this. I WILL do this.