On July 27th, 2011 I decided to take a jog. It was exactly .52 of a mile before I nearly passed out. It’s chronicled on Run Keeper. Since then, I have pushed past that mileage and strived to be better. In the beginning it was hard because the temperature was unbearable some days. This summer in St. Louis, we saw temps surpassing 110°. To get around that, you’d have to run very early or very late. I wouldn’t recommend anyone starting an endeavor like this during such hellacious weather, however, when the motivation strikes, you can’t turn away. If you wait until the perfect time, you’ll never do it.

For several years now, my friend and coworker Michelle (@love2run8 on Twitter) has tried to get me running. Other friends like @jenn_if_er and @meggartland and @meghoulihan have also tried to encourage me…but I’m stubborn. In the end, no one person got me to start. I was tired of being fat I guess. I had no energy and I couldn’t even play with my kids w/o getting tired. That needed to change. For those of you who read my prior post entitled My First Fitness Blog Post, you might remember that I spoke of a Nike+ GPS watch that I thought was really cool (because of the geek factor). I ended up getting that watch and love it! In discussing that watch, it lead me to have a discussion with Maddie Marshall (@maddie_em on Twitter). At this point, I was already committed to running, but she encouraged me and pushed me to do more. I won’t say I wouldn’t be where I’m at without her, but…she pushed me pretty hard and encouraged the crap out of me. I will forever be thankful to her.

On September 18th, I completed my first 5K race. I didn’t come in 1st Place, but I won for me. Maddie was there, along with @therobertprice and @hannahviolin. They didn’t wait for me (but as I’ve found out, no one really waits for anyone) but I pushed through just fine without them – it rained most of that race too. Once I crossed the finish line, I was hooked.

On October 16th, I completed my first 10K race. It was the go! St. Louis Halloween 10K. Again, I didn’t come in 1st Place (or anywhere close) but it was a win for me. I conquered something I had never done before. In fact, I had even gone to a winery the day before so really wasn’t feeling up for it and went anyways. I knew if I didn’t…I’d likely be chastised by my friends for not showing up.

I was perfectly content with being done at this point (at least for the rest of the year). I felt like I accomplished a lot in just 2.5 short months. About a month prior to that, many of my friends were preparing for their full or half marathon in the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon Series in St. Louis on October 23rd. In my mind, I told myself I could be ready and sort of wanted to do this. However, the cost was $105 at this point (because of registering so late). That factor helped me make my decision not to do it because in reality, I wasn’t ready. The most I had ever run at that point was 5.5 miles. Even the 10K on the 16th…that was the furthest distance I had ever run. On Thursday, October 20th, Jennifer tweeted that she had a friend that couldn’t use her bib for the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon. She purposely included me on that tweet…within 5 minutes I was committing to taking the bib and running a half marathon. WAS I NUTS!!?? But then I thought back to the story of Maddie’s brother, David, who on a whim, drove to Iowa to do a full marathon one weekend, without EVER training. This was it…no guts, no glory. Suck it up Dave. Rub some dirt on it. BE A MAN!!

And so, today, I completed my first half marathon ever. I finished in an amazing 2:41:41, which for me, again, is a win! I’m proud of myself. Somewhere around mile 11 (when I felt like I was gonna throw up and literally started to tear up and cry a little), I saw a girl holding a sign that said “Pain is temporary, Pride is permanent”. That little girl will probably never know what that sign meant to me. I had to walk quite a bit those last 2 miles, but I made it across the finish line, and once again, beat all odds.

If you ever wanted to know if you could run a marathon, the answer is simple. Yes. You can. I’m not a coach. I’m not a trainer. But if you need someone to run with you for your long runs, then you let me know and I’ll do whatever I can to accomodate schedules to make it happen.

Chase your dreams and don’t be afraid to go through a little bit of pain. The rewards are permanent.