Shamrock'n my butt off...

In February 2009 I laced up my shoes and headed out the door for a run. I had heard how much Rob was enjoying his running adventures and had a couple months left of my sabbatical and thought I'd try it out.


 As I headed out, I checked the time and started off. As I did what joggers do, I noticed it was a bit harder than expected. About a second later I got a side cramp and had to walk. I was shocked to realize less than a minute had passed! It was then I downloaded the Couch to 5k podcast and began running 3 times a week. I was so dedicated to this new regimen, I even ran while on vacation!


 Well, that was a little over 1 year ago... and one of the things I've loved about learning to run is seeing progress over time. Two days ago I ran the longest and farthest I have ever run in my life, 7.1 miles.


Just as I was approaching the finish line for my portion of the race I thought... if I ever get chased by a robber I KNOW I can run at least 7 miles to get away from him! (A year ago he would have caught me after 38 seconds!)


 My weekend in Sacramento was spectacular! Here are my top five favorite things about it:


1) The community (running buddies, lots of cheer-ers, lots of fun hanging out with friends!)


2) Running towards the capitol as the sun was rising... it was simply beautiful!


3) Pre-race fun (hanging with Heather, Lauren, and Teri; prepping our eyebrows for the race; eating a ton of pasta guilt-free)


4) Passing the sweaty baton to Noemi then seeing Teri and Lauren's smiling cheery faces as I crossed my finish line.


5) Looking down at my bib number and medal and feeling really really good the rest of the day.







A couple weeks ago my relay buddy, Noemi, asked me if I'll keep up with the running once our race was over. At the time I wasn't sure, but yesterday (with all of it behind me) and sore quads to remind me it really happened... I found myself searching online for the next race to aim for. I think that's a good sign.