Nine years later I'm still a runner. However, I'm not near the runner I want to be after running for so long. A few months after I started running I ran my first 5k. I've only run a handful of 5ks since then, my last one in 2015. I have stopped and started over too many times to count. I have had a few injuries, 3 pregnancies, moves, bouts of depression, the loss of a child, and currently a gypsy life where I'm alone with a 5 and 7 year old everyday.
This is from the last 5k I ran in 2015. It holds my current race PR of 31:40.
Last year I was running consistently. We moved to Indy for a few months and I signed up for the Indy Women's Half Marathon. It was to be my first half. I trained so hard. I ran after Daniel got home from work, I ran my long runs on Sunday on the Monon. I was so excited every time I hit a new high mileage...9 miles, 11 miles, 12 miles. I had never run so much in my life, and I was killing it. Then a hurricane (Irma, I think) hit Florida, and Daniel left to work there. I continued to train as a single parent, but it was not to be. The day of the race came, and I had no babysitter. I was beyond devastated.
I actually pushed these two on some of my runs. It was brutal.
One afternoon I had to run around a school parking lot while they ran around and played.
I ended up running the half marathon around the campground where we were staying. I think I finished in two and a half hours. I really wanted to run that in downtown Indy, but I was pretty proud of myself. However, a couple hours later my right foot was in excruciating pain. With no insurance I went to an urgent care and had an x-ray. Story of my life, it was nothing the doctor could see. It lasted a few months, so I lost all my fitness. Another story of my life.
Fast-forward a year, and I am running consistently again. And I'm motivated. I have a plan for 2019. It's going to be my year. I can just feel it. So here goes....
Run the Birmingham Half on April 14, 2019
Run the Indy Monumental Marathon on November 9, 2019
I hate putting big goals out there (even just for me). I'm so bad at not following through. I really want it this time. The ONLY thing standing in my way is my knee. On July 3 while I was sleeping I had a night terror. I jumped up and across the bed. When I got settled back to go to sleep, my knee was throbbing. Again, no insurance, and I'm not taking that chance that the doctor won't know what it is. I sat out a few months, then I realized that my knee doesn't hurt when I'm running, only sitting. So I'm running, and it hasn't been an issue. I'm just worried about the longer runs. I haven't run more than 6 miles on it. So I guess we'll see.
So, there it is. I'm cranking it up a couple notches this year, and really trying to make some goals and dreams a reality. I know it will be hard. I know I'm going to be tired and more cranky than usual. I know I'm going to have to be creative to get my miles in. I know I'm going to have to figure out fueling. I have a long way to go, but I know I can do it.
This blog is really for me only. Although this blog is out there on the Internets, I don't expect, or even want, anyone to read it. It's for me. It's a way to record my progress, see what is and isn't working, and just have record of all my hard work that I can go back to in the future.
So, here's to an awesome 2019!!
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
2 Timothy 4:7
"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 43:31
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