Giving Thanks!

As you may know, I finished my first marathon one week ago. I ran 26.2 miles.

Before training, the longest run I had ever run was maybe 8 miles. And that was LONG.

I had always been a sprinter – the 400 and 800m dash were my races. Even so, I have always loved running. Ever since I started tagging along on runs with my dad since I was, well, big enough to run, I have always loved everything about it.

The exploration, the challenge, the camaraderie, the sense of accomplishment – everything.

So, I have always run leisurely. two miles here, two miles there… Until a few months ago when a friend of mine messaged me on Facebook. “Hey! Want to do a half marathon with me in Las Vegas?!” Now, how could I turn that down?! So, I went to the website to register and noticed that the FULL marathon was the same price! Plus you got a sweet finisher’s jacket! I thought, well, if I’m going to Vegas, I’m going all in!

So, countless 4:00am alarms, 4 pairs of running shoes, 38 gallons of sweat, 64 gels, and 4 months of training later… here I am! A marathoner!

During this time of thanks, I look back at what kept me going. Running 20-35 miles a week for months was a huge change for me. It wasn’t easy. Don’t get my wrong, 99% of the time I enjoyed every minute of it! And in hindsight, I really did enjoy it 100% of the time. But there was that 1% of the time that it wasn’t easy at the time. There were days I didn’t think I could manage another 6 mile run. There were days I thought why am I doing this? There were days I just wanted to eat donuts, drink beer, and lay on the couch!

But, you know what? I am so, so, incredibly glad that I followed through. You may or may not know this if you’ve kept up with my journey, but I completed EVERY. SINGLE. Training run. Except TWO 3-milers to prevent injury. I never said I’ll just skip today. I never said skipping one run won’t matter. I never said oh well. I just did it.

In saying this, my point is that YOU kept me going. Though I am ultimately self-motivated and I believe that true motivation and desire to succeed comes from within, when my self-motivation was lacking during that 1% of the time, guess who was there. YOU. So many of you have encouraged me, given me tips, tricks, and pointers, shared with me your stories (good and bad!), and overall have just been the most supportive people I’ve ever known.

Like I’ve said, always will say, and will say again: runners are the best type of people.

Thank you for being you, for your support, and for your genuine desire for me to succeed. I want you to know that I care about you all and hope that you feel the same. In this time of thanks, I thank YOU!

Let’s keep the thanks going and share the love! Check out someone I’m thankful for, Emily, and her lessons from her first Turkey Trot! http://azsungoddess.weebly.com/blog-posts/lessons-from-my-first-turkey-trot