My Love of Running

If you would have told me three years ago that I would be a "runner" I would have laughed at you and said you were crazy. Why in the heck would anyone want to run just for the heck of it? Well now I am eating those words because I LOVE RUNNING!

It all began for me the summer of 2008 while attending Youth Conference. The Young Men's president at the time wanted to get a running group going in the neighborhood and asked if I and another guy wanted to start running with him in the mornings. My first response was "He** No!" But he talked me into it and we had our first run of about 3 miles. It actually wasn't so bad and I was proud of myself that I was able to do it. (Luckily, I was in shape from doing classes and working out at the gym). After that we just kept increasing our mileage until that same summer I signed up to do the 24th of July 10K, my first race ever. After that race, I was hooked! It was so much fun and the runner's high was awesome. After that, I figured I might as well keep going and signed up to do a half marathon that fall in St. George. Two weeks before that race, I found out I was pregnant with Miles. That half was probably the hardest thing I have ever done! I couldn't walk normally for about a week after. Since I was pregnant, I retired for running for a while, but still kept working out at the gym.

After having Miles the next summer, I started running a little bit and did a 5K. Then winter came again and I concentrated on spinning and weights. This summer I was ready to try again to conquer another half marathon. The guy who got us running in the first place has since moved out of our neighborhood, so I trained all summer with two other neighbors, Mike and Abe. I have been really lucky to have them because they have pushed me farther than I ever thought I could go.

So Mike (my neighbor) and I ran the 24th of July 10K together and just today, the

Salt Lake City Half Marathon.

It was AWESOME! The course started at the Mountain Dell Golf Course and went up Little Mountain for the first 4 miles. After that, it was a gradual downhill down Emigration Canyon. We ended at the U of U. It was an amazing run and I felt great the entire time. I kept thinking, "I can't believe I am doing this and that this is actually FUN!"

The finish!! My time 2 hours 3 minutes!! I could not have been happier or more proud of myself!

My running buddy Mike. He lives on the same street as me only about 7 houses down. Can you believe he is 52? I have a hard time keeping up with him most of the time. He sure has pushed me to become a better runner.

The best part of the whole race was seeing my family at the finish line holding this cute sign. It brought tears to my eyes and it felt great to have them all cheering me on at the finish. I love my family!! (And thanks Tracy for thinking to do that and helping the boys make it. I loved it!)
I am going to laminate it and hang it up in my classroom.

So I can honestly say that I LOVE running. It makes me feel so powerful, strong and like I can accomplish anything. I love that it is a sport where you are only competing against yourself. Each run is just another chance to run harder or faster or longer. It is an amazing feeling! I am grateful that I have a body that can run. I have already signed up for my next race, the Women's Only 10K on October 9th. I can't wait!