I’m not a natural runner, as a matter of fact, I hate running. Getting to this point in my life has been a struggle, one that I’m very proud of being able to overcome… kind of.

I started training to run a marathon after my almost 4 year old was born. My husband had already run a full marathon and thought it might be a good idea for me to run to get back in shape and have something to do together. The last part didn’t work out so well, we run at a different pace and he’s way more dedicated than I am so I’m back to running alone. Long story short, I threw out my back and couldn’t continue to train for a while.

Fast forward to September 2011. My friend Nancy, who is one of those crazy people that run just for fun, came to visit from Seattle. I was in a rut and shared with her how I felt out of shape and how I had wasted all the progress I’d made a few years ago. Nancy went home but continued to encourage me to take one day at a time and slowly get back in the swing of things. And then she had a bright idea, sign us up for a half marathon. I said “suuuuuuure, I’ll run a half marathon” because how many people take that as an agreement and register you right away? So that’s how I got here. She called and said “we’re all set, registration done and airfare is booked to run it with you”. How do you get out of something once money has exchanged hands? I had no other choice but to start running again.

So I ran. A little at a time and a lot on weekends. I was doing well until I ended up in the hospital with kidney stones. I’ll post about that another day, still not ready to talk about it. The hospitalization and health trouble cost me a good three weeks of training, and right before the event. I worked very hard to get here so I decided to just do my best.

I ran the most I’ve ran ever, and even when my knee started to hurt and the last 2 miles were the longest, most excruciating uphill miles I’ve ever encountered, I kept going…. and FINISHED!

I know a half marathon may not be much to some but it’s something I can now scratch off my bucket list. I didn’t do as well as I would’ve liked but I definitely ran it in less than the goal I had set for myself. Let the training begin for next year! I’m happy to share with you my pretty, shiny medal.