Live.

I’m a firm believer in trying just about anything once. Life is too short not to experience all that it has to offer. If I fear something, all the more reason to face it head on and conquer it. You should have a bucket list, and do everything on that list…all of it. I have a bucket list that grows every day (well…not every day, but it’s growing), and writing this blog about running is one of them.

Laugh.

Yes, it’s all about the laughter. Laugh at it all including yourself! Life isn’t worth living without the laughter.

Run.

Ahhh….the run (no, not the runs)! I got the running bug in December of 2011 during the Celtic Solstice 5 miler. I was never a runner, in fact, I hated running and couldn’t run a mile if I had zombies chasing me. A friend of mine convinced me to join her and a friend and run rogue in the in the race, and I begrudgingly obliged. This was the first time I ever experienced a race and the energy and excitement I felt from the runners was infectious. I did a walk/run with her friend and then it happened…I was hooked. My same friend was training for a half marathon so I tagged along during her training runs. While she and her running buddy carried on conversations during their runs, I gasped and wheezed for air behind them and prayed that they’d stop to take a break at some point. I was too proud to say that I needed to stop (you know…had to look tough while I was getting ready to pass out). Oh, and by the way, I have asthma. So many times I felt like I was going to puke or pass out, but they pushed me through.

By May, I did my first official race, the Maryland Half Marathon…0 to 13.1 in six months! The emotions were overwhelming! Those  who know me know I go all out. Why do half when you can go all the way? So, five months later, I completed the Baltimore Full Marathon in October 2012 in 4 hours and 56 glorious minutes. I went from 0 to 26.2 in 11 months. See? Anything is possible…ANYTHING! During the journey to my first 26.2, I lived and experienced things I never thought I would, I laughed with new friends that I would have never met without running, and most importantly, I ran when I never thought it was possible. Since then, I have crossed over into the world of ultramarathons. My favorite distance is the 50-miler and my longest distance to date is 100-miler (101, if you included the mile added for when I got lost..lol!)

It’s funny how running has changed me. I was always into fitness and my fitness goals changed as I got older, but all the weightlifting, boot camps, and kickboxing classes didn’t discipline me like running did. Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE doing all of those things and still do them when I can, but I don’t get the sense of freedom that I get when it’s just me and the road. When folks tell me that they can bench twice their weight, I say “So what? I run.”