Running

Never in a million years did I EVER think that I would posting a blog post with the title RUNNING!
I have spent the last few weeks/months training for my 1st half marathon. I have been running quite a few miles each Saturday in preparation  for my big run in May. When I started my "getting healthy" journey two years ago, I NEVER, EVER wanted or dreamed that I would become a runner. In fact, I am pretty sure that I swore (up and down) that I would NEVER, EVER run for fun...ummm hello 5k(Nov. 2011 and Aug, 2012) 10k (Nov. 2012) and now a 1/2 marathon(May 2013). I wanted to lose weight, get healthy, feel better AND to be able to do it without running :). Funny how things change. Let me just preface this post with the "I still don't love running"! I am actually waiting to experience that runner's high that people/friends keep talking about.

Fitness MD has played a BIG part in my being able to just run. Most of our workouts incorporate cardio/running. When I joined Fitness MD, those first few months were B-R-U-T-A-L. When I had to run a large lap, or worse, being told to run two large laps(=1 mile), in a row, I would cringe. There were days I wanted to cry. There were days that I wanted to take the short cut(basically cheat). There were days that I wand to get in my car and just go home. After two weeks of not being able to run those large laps without stopping at least once, I made a deal with myself. I promised myself that I would never walk a large  lap EVER again. If I had to, I could run it slow but I always had to run it. To this day, I have run every single large lap I have ever been told to run at Fitness MD. You may be saying to yourself, "so, why is she talking about this?" There are two reasons. First, I ran 12 miles on Saturday. I RAN 12 MILES on Saturday. It was on my schedule and I did it. I got it done. Woot! Woot! Thankful that my friend Stephanie joined me...made it so do-able! That is just 1.1 miles less than I will be running on my 1/2 marathon day! I can do it! I know I can. The 2nd reason I am recording my running feats on my blog today is because I was so proud of myself today. I actually slept in and hit the 11:30 am Fit Club class instead of the 5 am . In the 11:30 am class today, there was a girls high school softball team training and doing to workout with us. At certain points in the workout, we had to run large laps(1/2 mile) for time. The 1st two large laps that we had to run, I beat every single one of those high schoolers. Beat them...meaning I was faster than them. Who knew :)??? For the last two large laps that we ran, I stayed even with their fastest runners. I am not bragging or anything(ok, maybe I am...just a little) but I was able to hang with those teeny boppers. Who knew??? As I have thought about my running self, this quote has played over and over in my mind.

And that, my friends is what I have learned...YOU JUST HAVE TO GO!