Thursday, September 13, 2012

3 Year Runniversary!!!

5K #1
Three years ago I was blogging about random things. Life. Work. Nonsense. Vacations. Okay, so pretty much what I do now, but I was NOT blogging about running! A high school friend had been writing in her blog about training to run a 5K with her husband. I was in awe. A 5K? That’s like legit business. No way could I ever picture running a 5K! I kept telling how inspiring she was to me and wondering what was her secret. At the same time I was seeing another friend talking about running. I remembered how earlier he posted a status from the start line of the Walt Disney World Marathon. What?? A friend of mine was running a marathon??? How is that even humanly possible? How can people run more than a single lap around the track without dying? That was something only Olympians do, right??

5K #2
So three years ago, after hearing about C25K from my friend, I put on some new Nike shoes, a cotton t-shirt and some shorts and went on my very first run! And I did it!! I kept with the intervals and felt a total high by the end. I ran for a whole minute at a time and I didn’t die! I was going to be the greatest running in the history of the world! Take that, Pheidippides! Over the course of Couch to 5K I of course then had moments where I “knew” I couldn’t do it. 5 minutes of running? You’ve got to be kidding me. EIGHT? No freaking way! As I was nearing the end of the time and approaching my first race …. H1N1. The Swine Flu. Bed rest. Sweating. Chills. Constant fever. NO running. One week before race day I was finally allowed to be moving around and go back to work. One week later I was at my first race …. The Beaver Fun Run 5K in Corvallis, Oregon. It was 27 degrees out. My mom and step-dad cut their vacation short so they could come cheer me on. Even my dog was there to support me (but I hear she spent most of my race cuddling on blankets in the car with the heater on)!

Half #1
I crossed my first finish line on the 50 yard line of Reser Stadium at my alma mater, Oregon State University. My arms were in the hair, I had a huge smile. I was on top of the world … and completely exhausted! These 5Ks are no joke! Before I knew it my mom and I were en route to Orlando for my 2nd 5K, Disney’s Royal Family 5K, part of the Princess Half Marathon weekend. I’ve already talked before about my quest for the backpack and how Disney shamed me into striving for me. At that, my second race ever, I ran the full 5K distance for the first time in my life. And at that finish line I vowed to my mom that the next year I would be back, this time doing the half marathon! And thus a complete race addict was born.

It’s been 3 years (and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.) … oops … and it’s a very rare month that I don’t have a race. I can’t even tell you off the top of my head how many races I’ve completed and of what distance. Dang it, now I have to go figure it out!

1 – Great Urban Race
1 – Warrior Dash
15 – 5K
5 – 10K
1- ¼ Marathon
2 - 15K
15 - 1/2 Marathon

Half #11
So I’ve been busy! Now in a month’s time I’ll add in another 10K, 5K, 10 miler and my first marathon to that list. All of this within 3 years of that very first race. All of this from that girl that didn’t think she could run around the block. All of this from that girl that 3 years ago did her very first run… in a cotton t-shirt!

And along the way I’ve met so many of you as blog/facebook friends, and then some of you have turned into real life friends! I’ve had awesome runs. I’ve had terrible, spirit crushing runs. I’ve crossed finish lines in tears – both happy and sad. I’ve thrown up at too many finish lines, and once mid-race (which is this weekend’s race, incidentally – so hopefully I won’t do that again!!). Did you know I even got 1st place in my age group at a 5K once? Did you know I crossed the Boston Marathon’s finish line, getting my first sub-30 5K? Even with the injuries, the hard runs, the runs in snow, the runs in the blazing heat … I’ve freaking LOVED it!! Running is so awesome … I just wish I discovered it more than 3 years ago!!

4 comments:

  1. You're hada great 3 years. Congrats!

    I love the last line - I agree.

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  2. Runniversary!! I love it!! Happy runniversary!!

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  3. Happy Runniversary! It's been quite a ride these past 3 years it sounds like.

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