And so it begins.....

I never really considered myself a runner, in fact, I think I spent most of my life trying to avoid running. And if you had ever told me that I might run a 1/2 marathon, I would have told you, you were crazy. And yet, yesterday I came home from seeing some friends and registered for the Baltimore 1/2 Marathon on October 16, 2010. It still seems alittle crazy to me, but everyone I've told that I wanted to try, has been incredibly supportive and encouraging. I've been very touched by the support of my friends and family Facebook.

I will be running it in honor of my Uncle Peter, he was a true marathon runner. He ran this same race the day after our wedding with my cousin Jessica, in honor of Seth and me. It is 6 years to the day that they ran it! I miss him terribly, I wish he was here to help me train for this race. But running it in his honor is giving me my inspiration for this adventure!

I ran quite a bit last summer, but I hurt my Achilles Tendon and was told to rest it and not run for awhile. So I took up riding the stationary bike, I didn't think I would like biking, but I really enjoy doing it now. A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to sign up for the Susan G. Komen 5K race in DC, I thought I would really enjoy doing it, but I would have to walk it. On Memorial Day weekend, we went up to Seth's Dad's house near Syracuse. I went out for a walk, I'm not sure why, I think I just wanted to see how I would do, so I started running! And it was glorious!!! It was a beautiful day, in a beautiful setting and I have fabulous music on my Ipod and I felt strong. I felt fantastic when I finished!! I felt like my Uncle was right there with me!

I didn't run the whole time during the 5K, but I ran alot of it! And again, I felt fantastic after I finished! So, I had this little voice in my head to sign up for 1/2 marathon, I knew that I wouldn't run the whole thing, but even walking it, I was confident that I could finish it! I mentioned it to a couple of friends and to Seth and they were so encouraging! The voice in my head got louder, I was looking at the marathon's website every day but I wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger. When I got home Saturday afternoon, I picked up the computer and before I could change my mind, I registered for it. Now I have the added incentive to keep up with the training!

I told my Aunt Susie about this adventure and she told me I should start a blog about my training. So here it is! I'm sure in the next several months, there will be plenty of highs and plenty of lows. I will learn alot about myself and alot about family and friends. I will try to record them here.

My Uncle's favorite quote was "It does not matter how slow you go, so long as you do not stop" by Confucius. He helped alot of people get their start in running, he would run at their pace and be nothing but encouraging. I never ran with him while he was alive, but everytime I run now I feel like he is with me. I would give anything to run with him, just once!

I'm not sure how long it will take me, but I'm confident that I can finish and I'm confident that he will be right there with me. He would just love this!