Today I Stop Being Fun...

For the past 100 days I have been in hibernation...today I am coming out and I stop being fun...or at least that's what I have been told (in a loving way of course!).

Today starts my training. Today I start running. 

I've been running for the past 16 years and in the last 2 I've become quite serious, running 3 half-marathons a year with a sprinkling of 5K and 10K races in there too. This year I've added an extra half, convinced a bunch of my friends to do a 3 mile mud run-The Mudathlon-and at some point a full marathon...location and time TBD.

My first ever race was a 5K in San Diego. It was for a local Mexican restaurant. To this day it is still my favorite. There was a Mariachi band at the top of the first hill and when you crossed the finish line you got a sombrero (which I still have). They also had beer and taquitos for all the runners. Seriously how can it get any better than that?!?!?!

Since then I've gotten much faster and willing to run further, but I still think I do it for the beer at the end (...and the medals...I really like my medals too...)!

Sometimes you get to look like a baked-potato wrapped in foil...

If you're lucky you can brainwash your friends into thinking running is fun too...

So why does training stop my fun-ness? It's because it has to become a priority. I sometimes have to miss crafty nights and GNO to put in miles on the treadmill or I can't stay out late because I have an early run the next morning. I stop talking about bias tape and pattens and switch gears to split times, pacing and become a connoisseur of energy gels and goo. Sometimes it means less family dinners as the hubby and I try to juggle our running schedules so we each get in the miles we need. It's a hard adjustment. I like my carefree 100 days of hibernation, but last year I achieved 3 personal goals I set for myself and it made all the little scarifies worth it!

This is Nate and I crossing the finish line last year at the Indy Mini Marathon. My goal was to finish in under two hours...I did it in 1:58:03 and there is no way I could have done it with out Nate's help. He kept our time and my sanity in check the whole way. He knew when to encourage and when to back-off (sometimes I get cranky when I can't run and breathe). He was with me the whole way.

I started running to be healthy. Looking at these pictures it's easy to see why I still do it....in EVERY picture, whether it was taken before or after the race, I have a HUGE smile on my face!

 LET RACING SEASON BEGIN!


Here are a few of my favorite motivational running quotes:

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."
--John Bingham

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit."
--Dr George Sheehan

 

“Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” – African Proverb