When Things Run Two-gether

Typically speaking, I am not a Saturday poster but today I find myself compelled to post for a number of reasons and I will apologize ahead of time for rambling on and getting a little emotional...

First off I want to congratulate all my peeps who scored PR's today, it was like PR city on Twitter this morning and I can't wait to read all those race recaps!!! w00t!

This morning was also the 36th running of the Tombstone Ten, a 1 mile loop run ten times in the hillacious Mt. Hope Cemetery in Lansing. I just wanted to give a big shout out of congrats to all my friends who tackled those "hills of death" because they are no joke! (And yes that pun was intended!)

Also, in case you didn't know my Boo, B.o.B is headed to South Florida today to run a little race tomorrow. I'm so excited for her, she's been training her @ss off and I am predicting a HUGE PR... needless to say my phone will not leave my hand tomorrow as I anxiously await her Finish text along with Adam's and Lauren's. Good luck to all those heading out there to race tomorrow! Tonight dream strong and tomorrow run FAST!

Wishing I were there to give her a whole lot of this tomorrow.

Moving on I wanted to share with you my run this morning, it was my longest solo run to date, some of which was run out on the back roads of nowhere, and the longest run I've ran in almost a year! When things fell apart during my Grand Rapids training cycle last fall I had only managed a 14 miler. Setting out this morning, despite knowing I'd be up against some hellacious 25-35 mph wind, I knew it was going to be a good run and it was. I felt strong and the miles ticked by so fast. (Well except a half mile stretch during mile 7 where I encountered the worst of the headwind while simultaneously tackling the worst of all the hills of the run. There may have been a moment or two there where I needed to remind myself that "Hills (+ Wind) are for Hero's"...) When I hit mile 15 I dug deep and gave that last mile everything I had left. Something I always try to do in practice for the end of the race. I finished the run short of my neighborhood and enjoyed a nice slow and deliberate walk to my apartment feeling pretty d@mn hardcore and bad@ss.

Ouch.

During the run I had plenty of time to reflect on the most important reason I wanted to post today; exactly two years ago today I started this blog. It seems like a lifetime ago and yet it was only two short years. (Can you guess how many posts I've written? First one to guess right gets a prize! And so you don't cheat, the archive has been temporarily removed to prevent an easy win.) So very many great and wonderful things have happened since that first post. I started it while training for my first Half Marathon and have since ran many Half's, two Full's, countless shorter distances, set many a PR, had a few bad races to grow from, pushed myself to the limit and recovered from injury. I've ran in different cities, states and climates. I've made amazing friends all over the WORLD! And I fell in love.

Reflecting on my running adventures over the years and especially since starting this blog, I can't even imagine what life would have been like if I had never started running. Since I started running I became the best version of myself. I am healthier, happier, have more fun and live every day to it's fullest. And because of running, I started this blog, and because of this blog I met Spike. If running filled my life with so much joy before I even met Spike, forgive me if I can't even begin to describe what happened after he came in to the picture. Suffice it to say that if I thought life couldn't have gotten any better back in the summer of 2009, I was entirely unprepared for the amazing that was about to happen after I met him. My world turn upside down in all the right ways and I haven't stopped smiling or being schmoopy since. Is it even legal to be this schmoopy? Probably not but I don't care.

Worth every mile.

So there it is, everything that has been swirling around my head since I started my run around 8 am this morning. Happiness, joy and a whole lot of schmoopy. And before I forget, I wanted to say thanks to all of you for reading along on all these crazy adventures of mine. Many of you have been following along since I lived in Orlando, Florida and was training for my first marathon and have been front row for all my triumphs, bruised ego's, and a cross country drive that ended in Spikeville, Michigan just last summer. It's been a crazy two years and a lot of miles my friends.

I'll wrap this up by wishing you all an amazing weekend and thank you for an awesome two years.

12 more weeks til Cleveland!!!