My Journey

the high school years: in 9th grade, i went out for track and was running 200's. i was way.too.slow to be running sprints!, but i still loved everything about track. in 10th grade, i moved to a new school, so i had a new coach. he noticed right away that i should be running distance. i started running 800's, 4x800 relay, 1500, and 3000. my favorite was the 1500. by my senior year, i was running it in under 5:30. i ran track every year and started running cross-country in 10th grade through 12th. cross-country was definitely my favorite sport. we ran 2 miles every meet and i remember one practice we had to run 6 miles. i thought i was going to die. At the same time, i still had dreams of running 26.2 miles someday!

the college years: during my first semester of college, i walked onto the cross-country team. i was an average runner and not very competitive, so the coach really could have cared less if i was there. i didn't really care about being on the team either, i just wanted to run. i loved running. i finished the season, but decided i was done with anything competitive. the following year, i ran my first 5K and i really loved it. i continued to run a few times a week, but usually nothing over 6 miles.

the post college years: in 1998, i met my friend kelly who also had a passion for running and wanted to train for a marathon. we started training on january 11, 1999 (i still remember the exact date because it was such a big day in my life!). we trained in every adverse condition imaginable...rain, sleet, snow, and ice. i remember looking in the mirror after a run and laughing because our eyebrows and eyelashes were snow covered and frozen. we finished the marathon on may 2nd, 1999. i crossed the finish line in 5 hr 8 minutes, which ended up being right under 5 hours for my actual time. it was a great day! but when i was done i said, "it's out of my system, i won't ever do that again." in 2000, we had our first child and running took a back seat - as it should have.
in 2002, we had our second child and i was even busier.
i ran a few races, but wasn't very consistent in running from week to week.
in 2005, we had our third child.
it was the same pattern - i ran a few races, but wasn't very consistent in running from week to week.
in 2007, i decided to start training for my 2nd marathon. it wasn't out of my system afterall. in fact, about a week after completing my first marathon, i was dreaming about running another one. i finished my 2nd marathon in october of that year. i ran it in almost the exact same time as my first. i was really proud of that, considering i had three kids, trained, and ran the whole thing by myself.

today: now that my kids are a little older, i have been able to run more consistently. in 2009, i ran 2 - 10k's, a 20K (12.4) in may, a 1/2 marathon, a 7 mile cross-country race, and finished my 3rd full marathon (chicago) - totaling over 1,000 miles for the year.

this year, i am planning to run 3 - 1/2's, 2 - 10k's, and possibly another full. i'm hoping to run more in 2010 than i did in 2009. i am excited for all that God is going to teach me through the miles and i am thankful for the gift of running. i know it is something i may not always be able to do.

and, here are some random things about me.