Running

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I used to be a runner. My (4 years) older sister Nicole ran track and cross country in high school. When I was in middle school I wanted to be a distance runner just like her. After two years of running the mile in middle school track meets...I was undefeated. I would also run the 1/2 mile and 2 mile run. I was never beat in the 2 mile and was only beat once in the 1/2 mile. I'm not trying to make this a bragging session, but let's just say I was good and I LOVED it.

In high school, I did both cross country and track. In cross country, I was decent, but I was no longer the best person on my team and it took a while for me to be okay with that. However, I still loved it. The cross country girls had a comradery that, to this day, I will never forget. Despite being from completely different cliques in the school (kinda like in Glee), we were all extremely close and the State Cross Country meet my freshman year still ranks as one of the most memorable days of my life.

When I started track, it was not the same. Being a freshman, I didn't really get any say in the events I did. Coach would always put me in the 4 X 800 relay (1/2 mile each) and the 3200 meter (2 mile), when my best event was the mile. I never got the chance to prove myself because he'd never let me run "my race". Our freshman year our relay team made it to state and despite me running the best 800 time in my life, we missed getting a medal by less than a second. Bummer. My sophomore year of track, I ended up injuring my back and quit the team. It's one of the only things I've ever quit and I'm disappointed that I did it.

I bring all this up because I USED TO be a runner. When I went off to college, I never competed again. I guess I was just done with it. Last summer I ran the Hospital Hill 5K with my friends Diane and Jenna. I trained for about a month beforehand, but nothing too extensive. It ended up being a fun race and after running it, I decided I would have to do more. So just this past week I started running again and I've already decided on two races I'm going to participate in in the next couple months:

My sister and I decided today that we're going to run the St. Patty's Day 2 Mile Fun Run in Manhattan on March 13th. I've always enjoyed Manhattan's St. Patty's Day festivities but I've never actually participated in the road race. It should be fun. I also got an email this past week for a 5K race in April that will benefit the son of woman who works in our district. She's actually the person who hired me 3 years ago. Her son has been fighting cancer for a couple years now and is not doing well. All the proceeds will go to pay for his medical bills. I'm looking forward to the race and I'm glad that I'm able to contribute to such a good cause.

So this is it...I'm getting back out there in the running world. Wish me luck!