Runner Girl

I love to run.  I fell in love with running back in my high school cross country days, logging miles, team comradery- it was great.  Then I went to college and my running fell to the side.  I was too cool or too busy... I can't remember what it was.  I simply stopped running after the end of my senior cross country season and never started again.  Running and I were on a break for a long time after that- it wasn't running, it was me.  I was young, my metabolism was still fast, I thought I didn't need running.  I was wrong.

Fortunately we became reacquainted around 2007, and rekindled the flame.  I ran a lot.  I started racing- 5Ks, 10Ks, a couple of Half Marathons, two Marathons and the Ragnar Del Sol.  I even won my age group in a (very) small local 5K.  Then life happened... work, the kids got older and therefore busier... and next thing I knew we were on a break again- running and I.  We flirted.  Just as we would get something going we would drift back apart.  On again off again.  I kept up my running log, but most years the totals were just embarrassing.  From 2007-2015 I logged a total of 3677.73 miles.  That is not even on track for 5K miles in a decade.

But the thing about running, the thing that kept me coming back, is that running sets me free.  When I run I pound out all of life's problems with each strike of my foot.  And on a good day, everything is resolved a few miles in, then I go from being lost in thought to being without thought- which is a beautiful place to be.  This is where I reclaim my sanity.  This is where I rejuvenate.  This time makes me a better person.  

So, I keep trying.  I keep starting back up hoping this time will be the time I really get back into it.  That this time I will have the running epiphany that keeps me inspired.

And then I did.

At the end of the summer a few friends from work decided to put together a Ragnar team for the 2016 Del Sol.  I jumped at the opportunity to have something to train for and signed up for a spot that had me running 20.1 miles over 3 legs.  Ragnar is a unique challenge- you battle increasing sleep deprivation as you work through your miles.  In the wee hours of the morning on that crazy trip adversity struck.  It was bad.  And I overcame it.  This changed everything.  I'm probably still on my race high, but I am recommitted to running.  I want new challenges.  I want to blow up my limits and find new ones.  Hence this blog... to keep me inspired and to share my journey.

PS- you can read all about the Ragnar and the details of my inspiration in my next post "Del Sol 2016."