Most of the time, I ignore my Facebook memories posts, but sometimes….Sometimes, you have to take a moment and say, “Wow.”    That happened to me yesterday.   Scrolling through Facebook and a 2014 memory post pops up where I wrote:

“Running my first half marathon, Superhero Half, on May 18th”

Damn, that was only 2 years ago!    It seems so long ago to be honest.    I can’t believe how far I’ve come in just 2 short years from running my first half to preparing for a 50K.   How the Hell did that happen?    I know it’s really because of my Mom’s Run This Town group.    It all just snowballed….

I remember thinking about signing up for the Superhero half because people in my group were posting about it.    I remember going on a group run and dear, sweat Janna telling me, “Yeah, you could do that.”    Then I remember that fateful car ride to the race where I realized that I KNEW NOTHING!    Robyn, Dawn, and “Diane”  were all talking race strategy and pace and I sat in the back of the car thinking….. Ummmm,   Ummmm, Ummmm….

I had no plan.   I had no pace.   I had no goal.    I had no idea what I was getting myself into or where it would lead.

I will say I did really well for a race I probably wasn’t prepared for or had no idea how to actually run it.    What I did do is shadow my fellow MRTT Mama’s for probably the first half the race.   Then Janna and I ran the second half together dodging Klingon singing runners and my tired legs.   “Diane” kept us moving and her knowing what she was doing paced me to a sub 2:10 which I had no idea what it meant at the time.   Official time 2:09:24.

The rest they say is history……

It is amazing to me that this has only been 2 years.   I’ve learned SOOOOOO much in this time.   I’ve learned the importance of fueling, pacing, training, and so much more.    Yes, running is just running; but running properly is so much more.  I’ve also learned that even with everything I’ve learned, I still don’t know much.

I can’t believe just 3 days shy of my two year anniversary of my first half marathon, I will be hopefully finishing my first (I mean only) 50K.

Holly Smokes…….

There have been lots of changes in these last two years.   I think the most obvious can be seen in pictures…

 

Superhero Half May 2014

Marine Corps Marathon October 2015

 

I never imagined that running would be such an important part of my life.   It’s been a wild, wild ride and can’t wait to be able to say that I am an Ultra marathoner soon.  (Hopefully!)