On the Road Again!

 

I have said this before.  I always thought that people who claimed to "enjoy" running were either crazy or lying.  Well, I have joined the ranks of the crazy...and I am NOT lying!!  I have spent most of this year in painful, grueling rehab.  I have been in the depths of despair feeling like all of my efforts were lost after my knee injury.  I worried that I may never feel whole again.  I have had days where I was unable to walk up and down my stairs without searing pain.  So, to be here now, to be "on the road again" feels amazing.  I started a couch to 5k program about 4 weeks ago, and tonight was the first night in the program where I ran more than I walked.  I was nervous about tonight knowing that I would be running a majority of the time.  But, when I finished each segment of my run feeling energized and pain free, I couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.  My soft tissue therapist lives in my subdivision and I seriously almost rang his doorbell after my run tonight to give him a high five!!  

So, in celebration of my return to training, I am running a 5k with two of my sisters in law on Thanksgiving morning!  I am so excited for my very first race!  I know to some people a 5k may not seem like much...but to me, a girl who used to tell her PE teacher she had asthma just to get out of running, it is a HUGE deal!  I am running this race in my home town which seams like a full circle moment to me!  I spent 18 years in that place feeling unworthy, feeling fat, hating myself and who I was.  I avoided challenging myself for so long, worried that I would disappoint myself as I always had.  Now, 10 years after I left home, I am returning as a new and improved person ready for my biggest physical challenge so far!  And who knows, I may just fall in love with races, and shoot for a 10k next!!