The Final Countdown

Sorry it's a little fuzzy... but you get the idea. I'm running my first half-marathon in a few weeks and can't wait to cross the finish line (assuming I make it that far, that is)!

13.1 miles can be pretty daunting to a novice runner like me, especially one whose training was interrupted for a month, but the physical and mental challenge of it all has proven to be oddly intoxicating. A once-upon-a-time athlete (ha ha! maybe athlete is too strong a word for someone who played high school basketball and tennis), I'd forgotten how it feels to push my body and my will beyond perceived capacity. Super scary, but also super exhilarating.

Running with friends helps take away some of that scary. I mentally wear down much faster when I run by myself... so doing the long runs together keeps me talking and distracted. Somehow I don't think I would have pulled off ten or eleven miles on my own... Saturday night, post-run, group therapy isn't bad either: there's nothing like ice cream and Julie's hot tub to take away all those aches and pains.

I don't call myself a runner--I'm pretty sure you have to do it more than three months at a time to be one of those--but for right now I'm loving it. It's one of the few things in my life that I do for me and me alone. And while every run still scares me a little... I know it'll be worth it.