Snow

My first post. Such high expectations to live up to (my own, of course.) This blog is mostly to record my running adventures, but I can't promise I won't digress now and then.

One year and forty pounds ago, I started running. Well, it wasn't quite that simple. Through high school, college, and beyond, I had gained weight and become less and less active then I once was. In high school I had done a few 5ks and never forgot the feeling of accomplishment I had after finishing. Last year I had reached a point of deep unhappiness with various aspects of my life: myself and my job. I decided to start changing what I had most control over - myself. I was so out of shape, I could barely run for two minutes without having to walk. So that's how I started, run two, walk two, run two, walk two. Until finally I built up enough endurance to run for 30 minutes. Cincinnati has an annual Thanksgiving Day 10k race, and I thought "why not?" I discovered a training group at the local running store and jumped in with both feet.

I was able to finish that 10k last year in 62 minutes. I was so nervous and terrified of not finishing, but when I did, I knew that I couldn't stop there. I discovered an eclectic, eccentric group of people who never made me feel out of place or awkward, even thought I wasn't fast. It was the first time in my life when I was able to participate in a sport with a group of people and really, truly enjoy myself. So, after that 10k I joined for the full year of training groups in 2007. I completed the Flying Pig Half Marathon, and then, despite an injury that initially set me back, I completed both the Chicago and Columbus Marathons. (Chicago 2007 survivors - we deserved more than a finisher's medal.)

Over this past year, the weight slowly came off, and I gained confidence and knowledge. Last month, one year later, I ran the Thanksgiving Day 10k again. This time, I finished in 56:55. It's still not really "fast," but I'm really proud of that time. This year, I wasn't afraid of not finishing. I was proud of myself for starting.

So, here I am in December, the most difficult running month of the year for me. There are no training groups, and its dark and cold. Not conducive to getting the mileage in. I've been doing pretty well so far, though. When I can't run, I go to spinning class at my gym. I'm also taking this time to try and get some more strength training in. (Especially upper body, since I have to wear a strapless dress in my friend's wedding in June.) Today was a spinning day, because it snowed, sleeted, and is now raining. It's supposed to snow again tomorrow, and I had a long run planned. I hope to at least get a few miles in using my yax trax. They are like magic - fitting over your running shoes and providing amazingly good traction on snow and ice. That's the goal for tomorrow.

Goals for next year? I plan on running the full Flying Pig Marathon in May. I'm going to enter the lottery for the New York City Marathon, but if I don't get in, I'll do Columbus or some other close marathon. My Columbus Marathon time this year was 4:53. I'd like to get down to 4:45 (which I know is entirely possible) and then maybe 4:30 in 2009. Every time I started training for something this year, I said "it seems impossible to run that far. I just can't imagine it." But every time, I made it, often surpassing my own expectations. So, we'll see what's in store for 2008. I think its going to be a great year.