You’re all still with me. Really? I had this idea as I noted that I was getting close to a 200th blog post. Only two or so years into my little home on the web, I realize that I’ve found what I love about doing this; they’re my thoughts, stories, and life, unfiltered. Pen to paper so to speak, and you follow along. Whether it’s out of obligation or because you really enjoy what I have to say, you’re still here. I’m humbled by that. So, thank you and thank you again. Now onto #200!
“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, Not because they never found it, But because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.” William Feather
I have so much to be thankful for this year. Sure, I’ve had my share of setbacks, but I think they’re common in the regular ebb and flow of life.
Exactly one year ago, I was feeling miserable. A year ago, I looked like this:
I’ve written about this before, my six-day stint in the hospital wasn’t really a pleasant one, it reminded me that maybe I am not as invincible as I thought. Shortly thereafter, I made a promise to myself: A half marathon by year’s end.
So today – as this post hits the ether – I embark on that goal. Today I will be running the “Holiday Half Marathon,” 13.1 miles. Some may think I’m crazy to do so, I was one of them.
Then I started running. My first run, the “Race for the Roses” 5k (3.1 miles,) was the longest run I had done out on the road when I started. It wasn’t too bad, but I wasn’t hooked. I was still somewhat lost. I hadn’t really understood the best way to train.
Then, in August, I really got serious about running. I started to run outside, since it was nice. I started planning routes around my home, enjoying the run. There are hills and I’m crazy, so I recorded video:
And then I noticed that I could run and I was consistent. But I needed goals, so I signed up for the Oktoberfest 10k Road Race (6.2mi):
And then the “Run Like Hell 10k (6.2 Mi)”
And the “Hot Buttered Run 12k (7.5mi)”
Since July 1st, I have run 158.6 miles. With my longest run to date being 11.2(ish) miles. That’s a lot of miles on these tires. And yes, I can’t wait to run some more.
I certainly have not done this alone. I really have to thank a couple of people who have encouraged me (Tim,) answered my questions (Cory and Clark,) and kicked my butt from time to time, when I needed it, of course (Mark.)
Mark & Tim, thanks for joining me on this and many other running adventures. Cory, thanks for “running me in,” as they say.
If you’d like to see my evolution as a runner as I’ve blogged it, check out my previous posts on the topic
So today: December 11th, 8 AM – I embark on completing my goal.
To finish a half marathon.
I have a goal in mind that I would love to complete. We’ll see if I can do it.
If you would like to watch me run it, and see my progress, you may catch a “glympse” here. Or, I may actually be live tweeting how much it sucks. Either way, I’ll cross the finish line, even if I’m crawling.
See you all on the other side.
What My Blog Says About Me.
Lets be honest. I don’t put a whole lot of thought into my blog. I don’t have an editorial strategy of what I’m going to post. I do, however, put a lot of “me” into this space. The sub-theme, “Heaping Scoops Of My Brain,” isn’t just clever witticism, This space is really all about what I’m thinking at the moment.
I don’t have a tag cloud enabled on my blog for a reason. I don’t think it adds anything to your experience here. However, I was going through some of the features on the back-end of wp.com and I found it has a tag cloud of your commonly used tags and such. These are mine. As I approach the end of the year, and my 200th(!!) blog post, I was going to do some reflection to what I’ve learned in my time here. Prepare yourself.
I have never thought of myself as a motivator or as inspirational. I have always just thought myself as a storyteller, someone you can relate to and someone you’d like to call a friend.
Again, thanks for sticking around with me. I hope it gets better from here. (If you want to see the posts which are related to the above tags. Click on them, it should take you there.) Going through them, I learned a lot about my writing style and how it’s changed since I began this thing.
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