Inspiration-you are mine!

To all those people in my life that know I like to pretend to run, and think I am a crazy person, but decided to give it a try and are loving it...you inspire me!

When you run and tell me about it, it reminds me of the impetus of my own running life. It feels great to think back over the milestones that are my running life.

Some of the good memories that make me want more:

Running for conditioning in high school laps through the school. Each full lap including to sets of stairs was 1/3 of a mile. It used to kill me to keep up with the team or finish 4 laps and some very special team captains and coaches would finish my last lap with me and encourage me to finish hard. Those memories have stuck with me through every single last 1/4 of a mile when I just want to give up. I think of Kelly Chapman and Coach Conlan encouraging me to push hard, dig deep, and finish stronger. (This was when I was a lowly freshmen and sophomore.

Then their was Eric Gillman who ran my first loop with me! The four mile run around the block of my high school in the hills. I was PATHETIC. I think he waited for an hour at his car while I finished. But I appreciated it!!

And then their was the entire varsity girls soccer team...they waited a lot of hours for me I think. I was almost the last person to finish every time. At the time I was fine with it, but now I hope I could at least beat a few people. I am not so sure I could, but at least I would try!

Their are so many many more!

But now I really appreciate those people who I have gotten to celebrate their first mile with! Or I have gotten to celebrate other milestones as either they run for the first time ever or return to the fun for fitness!

Their aches and pains are more inspiring than my own. (Is that mean?) I don't mean it to be mean, I mean it reminds me how far I have come, and that maybe in another few months I will go that far again!

And I guarantee you, in the next few months I will have many many many aches and pains. I owe it to myself to hit the pavement and prepare for some outdoor miles, but it won't be without a lot of whining. You better get ready for me to whine about my sore shins, ankles, hips...basically the whole deal.