How Far I've Come

This morning started off with grand plans of me running 10 miles outside just so that I got to use my Garmin.  Well, that went out the window when I looked outside and it was raining and blowing wind at approximately 9000 miles per hour.  No exaggeration, really!  So boyfriend and I laid in bed with Moe just talking until it was time to get up and go to brunch.  By the time we got to brunch, it was sunny, but still windy.  The weather around here is nuts.  We ate brunch outside to soak up some vitamin D.

When breakfast was finished, boyfriend's mom put him on the task of thinning out the giant tree in the backyard.  It started out innocently enough.

Then it got progressively scarier.

I was very helpful and stood out of the way taking pictures of my nervous face.  Let's just say heights and I are not very close friends.  I like my feet on the ground.

We also made a friend in the process.

That project took about 2 hours and by the time we were back on the road to home it was already almost 4pm.  I still had a long run looming ahead of me, so I hopped into workout clothes and sped over to my dad's to get on the treadmill.  I'm a total pansy when it comes to weather, and even though the sun had decided to stay out, the wind was still blowing at about a million miles per hour, so I decided to keep it inside.  My Garmin will have to wait until next weekend for the long run.  I pumped out 10 miles while watching Criminal Minds and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  A side note, the host of that show is from the same small town the boyfriend is from.  It's one of our claims to fame.  Oh, and Sara Bareilles graduated from my high school.  We're pretty awesome.

If you look very carefully, you will see awkward family photos all over the walls....

Ten miles makes me a little nutty.

When I came inside, dinner was practically ready.  I wish that food could just always be ready for me immediately after finishing a workout.  It was amazing.

Chili, salad, and polenta.

And of course, no refuel is complete without a bowl full of whipped cream.

After I showered and the boyfriend and step mom played a rousing game of chess, we came home and went for a walk.  Who doesn't love to go for walks after running 10 miles?  And by walk, I mean this happened.

On to more important stuff.  Today is my running/exercise partner's birthday.  I have her to thank for getting into the best shape I've ever been in in my entire life.  Exactly one year ago today, she forced our trainer and I to run the 5 mile race I did just a couple of weeks ago.  At that point, I hadn't run more than 2 miles in a very long time.  I was focusing on weight lifting, had just gotten into a new relationship, and was in an off period with my on again/off again relationship with running.  She kicked my butt (she ALWAYS kicks my butt) but I forced myself to keep up with her.  That started a long year of racing, progressing to an 8 3/4 mile race.  That was the farthest I had run EVER in my life and there were about 9 gazillion steep hills and with her by my side yelling at me every step of the way that I WASN'T actually going to die, I finished without walking.  She's the only reason I didn't walk.  She also threatened me with burpees at the end if I kept saying "I can't." 

 After that, I was convinced to run the 10 miler with her.  We trained together, doing our long runs on Sundays and occasionally doing shorter runs together during the week, but always keeping the other one accountable.  Race day came and around mile 7, I wanted to slow down and die walk, but she would have none of the slowing down business and we killed our goal time.  It was after crossing that finish line that I KNEW I could complete a half marathon, which had been a goal of mine since I started running in 2007.  

I went back and forth about signing up, but never got a real answer from her about running it with me.  I couldn't believe I was the one trying to convince her to run a race when it had always been the other way around.  Well, she told me a couple of weeks before the race and a couple of weeks after we ran 5 miles together and she was the one who couldn't keep up, that she was pregnant!  I am so happy for her because I knew she had been trying.  I also knew she would probably force me to do 90 gazillion burpees if I didn't sign up for the race.  So I ran it alone, but her voice was the voice I heard yelling at me for 13.1 miles.  I even mustered up enough energy at the end to sprint, which she always does while I'm always the one crawling to the finish.  

Today, during my 10 mile run, I thought of just how far I have come since that 5 mile race a year ago.  And it's all thanks to her.  She helped me to re-find my love for running.  She kept me going when I so badly wanted to quit.  She forced me to do a 100 day burpee challenge last July that I only completed because I couldn't let her down.  If I hadn't have found her, I'd still be exercising, since it's my passion, but I would not have run a half marathon.  I would not have run the 10 mile race.  I would not be in the shape that I am now.  I am so happy that she was born and was brought into my life and I know we will definitely cross a half marathon finish line together next year!