The Journey Really is the Destination

 I've been meaning to just start this blog for a while now, and I guess there's no time like the present.  I'm sure there will be many random thoughts here, but if you've known me lately, it'll probably be 90% related to running. It's kind of taken over and some days I feel like a silly teenager with a movie star crush, because it feels like it's all I talk about these days. But I've come so far, and learned so much since I started, it's not a bad thing. So... Sorry, not sorry! 

"The journey is the destination" has always been a favorite saying of mine. My running journey began back in high school track, when I was running the 800 meter, and the cross country coach asked me one day if I'd be interested in running cross country the next year. So I did, and I did ok (I actually medaled once!) but it was was a love/hate relationship. Hindsight 20/20, I'm sure that running 5 miles right after a long day of school on a stomach full of cafeteria food didn't help.  But it kept getting harder and harder, and eventually I had to give it up when I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease.  

Fast forward 20 years. I'm a married stay-at-home mom of two boys, aka, pretty busy! I never ran again. In fact I spent all that time believing that I couldn't. That's a whole lot of "I can't s" piled up. But eventually they turned to maybes, to what ifs, to never-know-if-you-don't-try. I signed up for a Run or Dye, and the Marquette Mountain Mud, grabbed my old gym shoes, and ran the 1 mile lap around town. It was ugly, and my 11 minute time was a far cry from what I could do in high school, but I did it! And I was hooked! After the Mud and Run or Dye were over, I kept on signing up for 5ks. I kept training. I got to fight through strange injuries. I was blessed to have my youngest son join my for a couple of those 5ks. I learned. I grew. Over the winter, I kept right on going, thanks to the Another Mother Runner Nuun No Limits Challenge where I spent the last 15 weeks training for my first 10k. And that race is happening tomorrow. And so.... To be continued!