My Run Story (the humble beginnings)

Color me surprised -- while I over share on every-single-aspect of my day/hour/minute, I never really sat down and penned out why I run, or my "run story".  

Grab a seat (and a snack)

Echem --

About 6 months prior to graduating from graduate school (and turning thirty) I started panicking. I was newly single, hadn't had "fun" since grad school began a bazillion years prior, and was searching for a way not to end up like Goldie Hawn on Death Becomes her -- couch lounging and containers of frosting included. So somehow signing up for a half marathon (New Years Resolution circa 2011/2012) was a great idea. Paid my registration fee, told everyone (more on gauntlet laying, here) and their mother -- because, hello accountability, and started googling "running" and "how to become a runner". 

First run was a spectacle. If memory serves I barely made it to the stop sign at the end of my street before I nearly collapsed, declaring I had asthma and a lung had ruptured. Eventually(!) it got better, I figured out what  a "runners high" is, and started to love/hate this whole running thing.

"Run - complete. The fact I came home, set up residence on my couch 

and lit a candle instead of showering is besides the point. I ran." (source)

We (two friends and I) signed up for races leading up to our first half marathon to prepare as much as possible: The Color Run (race recap 1/2), Race for Home 10k, Turkey Trot, Glow Run. Training was in full swing -- the Couch to 13.1 program was easy to understand and the perfect pace for a new runner as well as keeping weekly training logs of my journey.

There have been so many lessons along the way -- weight gain (I started at 117 and the scale kept a creeping upward), runger, good form, running with your dog, speedwork, hill repeats, fell head over heels with all things compression (more here, here), gear essentials (run link up), and building the perfect run tunes playlist. Inevitably injury reared its ugly head, and while during said injury recovery was one of the hardest lessons to learn, my ortho was right, " it did make me a better runner."

The day finally came where my training met opportunity -- an epic adventure I cherish. Who would have thought after hearing about  St. Jude's Half Marathon via a Food Truck employee (Sarah's Cupcake truck to be exact, heaven) would turn into a goal, into a dream realized, into a new passion. 

It's funny how life works out just the way God intended. 

What is YOUR run story?