what I love about running

I'll be long gone and on my way to Nashville once this posts, but I figured today would be a good day to post this. Because I'm running a half marathon tomorrow, this post is dedicated to running! So, you may know, I'm a runner. I love to run. I know, some of you are thinking, what in the world is there to like about running?!
Well...

Running is...
freeing. It's escaping your troubles. When I run, it's just like a time when I can think to myself, and all of my thoughts come to me so clearly. I come up with my best ideas when I run! Whenever I'm in a dilemma and I have to choose between two things, I go running because then I discover what direction I really want to go in with the decision. I love the feeling afterwards, the runner's high. Oh and the best thing? You can eat more! Hehe! That's my favorite part :)



One of the only pictures of me during track season, this is
after I already competed and my friends and I decided to
do backbends on the football field, lol.



I've been running since 7th grade when I joined the basketball team and learned that it takes a lot of work to get into shape. (I literally already thought I was in great shape just from sitting on the couch and playing summer softball, ha) So from the time that my coach FORCED us to run on the track in front of the high school football team (we were middle schoolers at the time and those football players were like gods) in the 80 degree summer weather, to doing sprints in the gym, I've loved the feeling running gave me.



The summer before 10th grade in High School, I really started running every morning. My goal was to be able to run 10 miles straight before the end of the summer. I started out with 2 miles, and then increased a little each day. Little did I know, this is NOT the way you learn to run long distances. With repeated distances, increasing every day, you will burn yourself out and it will most likely result in an injury. Well luckily I didn't get hurt, but I did get burnt out on it.

My friend Danelle and me after we competed :)

Later that year, I joined the track team because I figured I'd love the running aspect. I got my first pair of running shoes and hit the track with the coolest people ever, the distancers. My coach was incredibly AWESOME, and still gives me running advice to this day. But that year I learned that although I loved to run, I didn't like to compete. And I was as slow! I believe my fastest mile time in track was 7:04 (fastest of all time is 6:48), and my fastest 800 was 3:05 which wasn't that bad, but it was considered average for a track runner, nothing spectacular.

I didn't go out for track again after that. Even though I made incredible running buddies and had fun at practice, I dreaded competing. That just wasn't me. I went out for the basketball again (I had stopped playing after middle school) and although I was on the JV team, I showed a lot of improvement and success. By the end of the season, I was the high scorer and my best game I scored about 18 points. That was one of my favorite moments. It makes me wonder how good I could have been if I would've stuck with it every year.


^ Here I am with our JV team my Junior year. We were awesome, 1st in our league! Here we are all wearing bows in our hair made from our prewrap. I am #12

                            
^That's me there in the white jersey, with the ball :)

Since then, I've been running sparsely. Don't get me wrong, I still love to run, but yeah, I've gotten lazy. That is until my dear friend Mariah invited me to run a 1/2 marathon with her! (13.1 miles) I said, "Heck yeah!" because this 1/2 marathon thing is on my bucket list, and what better time to do it than now, when I'm young and healthy? :)

So I started training in January for the race, and at first I hated it. My lazy self didn't want to get into shape. I couldn't even run a mile without bending over, gasping for breath. And my mile time was horrible, around 13:00! Crazy. But I pushed myself through it. A couple weeks ago, I ran 11 miles straight, and it felt amazing. At the 10 mile marker, I had to really smile to myself because I had FINALLY accomplished that goal of running 10 miles straight that I had set about 4 summers ago. It felt really good. I also believe my mile time is around 8:00 now, but I haven't tried running my fastest mile yet. I may time myself this week to see how fast I actually can run a mile. I haven't been working on speed though for the race, my only goal is to FINISH this thing without walking!!!!!

Only problem about running distances? My feet and legs kill me. You know why? I am wearing the same exact shoes I had bought 3-4 years ago when I started track. My beloved, first pair of running shoes. These puppies have been through it all. I've ran probably about 700 miles in them, I've hiked in both the Appalachian and the Rocky Mts in them, I’ve gone mudding, swimming in the creek, and worked in these things. These shoes are old faithful to me.

That's my love-hate relationship. I love running, and I LOVE the shoes. But, my shoes are old, and they hurt me, so I dislike them as well. But there are so many memories in these things. I hate to let them go. But I think it's time to retire the good, old, running shoes. :( 

wish me luck as I run 13.1 miles tomorrow in my favorite city: Nashville, Tennessee!