10 Years and Running

This year I celebrate 10 (plus) years of consistently running. Here's a smattering of my favorite running memories through the years.

*In third or fourth grade I showed off my long-legged speediness when I beat everyone at some race to the fence and back. In gym, running the mile was no biggie. In seventh grade, my friend Marilee and I would wake up before school and run to the Jr. High and back, about 1.5 miles. It was then I realized how good it felt to start the day running; we'd even go in the middle of winter. Loco! In ninth grade I joined the cross country team. It hurt. My fastest time was 28 min. for the 3.1 miler and the entire race I was delirious and wetting my shorts. Yep. Humiliating, yet triumphant. I have to say it again: cross country HURTS to the maximum and I admire anyone who does it. I never felt in shape the whole season, just in pain. After that I joined drill team (which was a whole different kind of pain, but brought with it more passion so I enjoyed it much more) and never looked back. Until I graduated high school in 2000 and had few dancing options.

*Most evenings during my first two years at Ricks College/ BYU-Idaho found me in the Hart gym on a treadmill at 9 pm running 3 miles. I was religious about it because I'd heard horrible things about "the freshman 15." Staved off that and got to look at all the hotties on the treadmills across from me (we ALL looked hot in our BYU issue, believe me. Ain't no shoulders showing unless you got a little rebellious and folded them up under your bra strap. Oooowee! HOT TO TROT!)

*Transferring the BYU Provo made running a little more sporadic. The gym was not accessible for some reason, so we had outside and the indoor blue track. I can still smell that blue track. My roommates and I trained for the Moab Half Marathon on that stupid thing and we always had to talk each other into going because we hated it. Running indoors on a stinky rubber blue track in the middle of the winter is the opposite of fun. But we had a blast at the Half Marathon (pictured further below). I remember my roomie Rebecca, the true hard core runner, waking up at the butt crack every morning begging me to encourage her to get outside in the frigid winter weather and run. I did not encourage her because there was no way I would have done it. So, yes, sporadic it was for me. At some point while living in Provo I did the Provo Canyon Half Marathon by myself.

*(Below pictures) Here's me trying to get the hang of the jogging stroller with Sienna at 5 months old. Turns out I can't hack it. I don't use it anymore because a) it's a piece of crap and b) it defeats my whole purpose for running which is to get away from everything and everybody and be at one with the pavement.

(But doesn't The Bird look adorable in it? We still use it for walks.)

*I ran regularly the first 4 months of my pregnancy and then not at all for the last 5; I walked instead (both due to doctor's orders and because my legs were already struggling to support all the extra weight). I can't tell you how ready I was to get out again and run after having Sienna. Two weeks after her birth, I ran 3 miles and was in pain for the next few days. I decided to ease into it and now I am quite the pathetic runner, only getting in 2.5 miles here and there when Sienna (and I) have a decent night of sleep. I relish any time I can get my run in before Adam leaves for work. Endorphines make my whole life MUCH cheerier.

*The Big Lake Half Marathon in New Hampshire in 2006. This was right after Adam and I got married and were living in the Extended Stay America hotel in Tewksbury, Mass. GOOD TIMES! It rained the ENTIRE race and I couldn't feel any of my limbs at the end. Everyone was way faster than me, so they ran ahead. But, again, I couldn't feel my legs, so I just wanted it to end. SO COLD. Pictured above is me, Mercedes, and my old roommate Lauren who graciously lent me her windbreaker. The windbreaker was not a rain breaker, unfortunately, but it did much better than my tank top. I did not dress right at all and am lucky to be alive today as a result.

*Pictured below is one of the two half marathons I did in Moab. The first one I did alone (I think) because all I remember is running with a guy I knew (Carrie, what's his name??) who was sporting with confidence very short shorts. He was entertaining and nice enough to run with me because I was nervous about finishing. Then when I felt confident enough to finish the last couple miles alone, he ran ahead to try to salvage a decent time. I absolutely love going to races of any kind because there is such an electric feeling in the air. Something about sharing a love of fitness in the great outdoors.

*The second Moab race I did with my cousin Carrie and roommates Chelsea, Rebecca and Sarah. I wish I could find the picture of us in our hotel room dancing on the bed. That was a really fun trip.

*This was Carrie's first half marathon and she might just tell you the whole training and running experience sold her on the power of running. Do you dig our pink head bands? I do.

*(Picture below) At a 5K in Provo with my friend Miriam during college. I'd like to thank fun little BYU-sponsored races like these for introducing me to my husband. I was dating a guy who entered a biathlon (a swim and run held in this same area pictured below) that Adam also entered. Guy got first because he was a better runner, Adam got second although he was a better swimmer, he came to congratulate guy and there I was by his side. Adam and I need to make a pilgrimage to this area and revisit the grassy knoll I was sitting on when I first shook his hand then watched him walk away. That moment changed the course of my life and I owe it all to ... running (and a few million other events, but for the sake of this post ... running).