Sometimes I do my best thinking while I’m running…… too bad I can’t just blog while running.   So with my race only 10 days away I really started reflecting on my best year running.

I have spent many years post college running…. but 2009 was an awesome year for me as a runner.  I killed the 14k with 8 minute miles the whole way, then I ran the full Shamrock Marathon in 4 hours 30 minutes.   It was a great year for running.   But it was a great year for many other reasons.   In 2009 I learned that I didn’t need to depend on anyone else to be happy, that my happiness was up to me and me only.   I became so much more independent, living by myself and really focusing on me.   I was kicking off my career at the high school where I work, and I was running like crazy…. and it felt amazing and empowering.   So that 26.2 tattoo on my foot means a lot more to me than just miles.

I also met my husband that year.   I wasn’t looking, I was loving my single independent life.   But he just made the year even better, and he never took an ounce of that independence away.   To this day he has not asked me to change anything.   I feel like I’m still myself with him but better 🙂

So while I’m not the runner I was in 2009, and there is a good chance I will never run that well again.  I’m totally ok with that.   This body just had a BABY!  And it was only 3 months ago that I was even cleared to work out. So I’m excited and pumped to run (ok jog lol) 13.1 miles.   Not just for the race, but for what it means to me.   It is about being strong, independent, and setting goals…….not just setting them, but reaching them.

Today’s run was freezing!  But it was one of my best runs yet…. and despite all the crazy setbacks of snow, ice, and getting sick,  have still trained pretty hard and I can’t wait!    10 more days!