Run run as fast as you can.

Hi, this is me, and what's been on my mind lately.

I'm always writing about how busy things are and I'm realizing more and more it's more than partly my fault. I just keep trying to pack more and more into our lives. . . I read something and think, we NEED to go there, I hear about someone doing something and think I HAVE to do that, I write this and that in my goal book, and I cross that and this off. I have a list. It seems like it's just getting longer. I have had something on my list probably since I was about 7 that has stayed in the same place, never getting crossed off because I had done it, and never getting crossed off because I decided I didn't care about doing it anymore. It so happens that thing on the list is to run. . . it's kind of an open ended goal. I wrote to be able to run a marathon, and then wrote maybe I should train and do some things that would help me to be able to do that without dying first. I'll be honest with you all. I've never been the "runner" in the family. Actually out of five children I think if you asked anyone in my family to rank the kids in order of who was a good or even ok runner I would have ranked #15 after not only my actual siblings but also after all of my parents "adopted" kids too. My siblings were all talented runners, Sunny and April were high school stars. Reid was naturally athletic and could run as he pleased, and Chelsie well I still remember being next to Chelsie on a treadmill me panting full out running at like 5 miles an hour and her jogging along at like 6.5 miles an hour giggling because I was having such a hard time. I have tried a few times to start achieving this goal. . . I'd start by run walking you know running for two minuets and walking for two minuets, and then well it really always ended there. Well this past year I signed up with Mark to run a 5k here in Knoxville. I started training and the first time in my adult life that I ran 3miles I cried like a baby. . . I know silly right. Many times in my life I've said "I can't" because I was embarrassed that I didn't know if I could, and deep down I thought it'd be so awful if I couldn't. Well long story short, I've realized that I can. I can do anything I put my mind too. I may not run fast, but I run, I may not come in first, and maybe even sometimes I'll come in last, but for the first time in my life I'm RUNNING. I ran that 5k in 34:14, I've since topped that and my fastest now is 32:28. I've also run a 10k and I did that in 108:19 and I can tell you this I was no where near last!
That was in April since then I've run 7miles, 8miles, 9miles and 10miles. In exactly one week from today I'll be running my first 1/2 marathon. 13.1 miles. I'm terrified. . . but also confident, I know now that the only thing that was in my way before was, me. It feels so good doing things I thought I couldn't. I have so much more faith in what my true potential is. It may seem silly to some that running could do this for me, but it has, and I'm thankful for these experiences! So this is the first little post of a few that will be close to my heart. All of these posts will have to do with running. . . well they'll have to do with more than that. Just wait and see!

Wish me luck!
Me finally believing in myself!